Day 2 - October's 31 Days

Day 2 of the Kayla's 31 Days Of October Challenge!
And just to be clear, there is no deadline if you want to join me in doing this. You can start at anytime.

Today's Book: The Fault In Our Stars - by John Green
This book is so good! As soon as I finished it I wanted to start it over. And so I expect I will be re-reading very soon.

And Today's Polyvore Set:

I am enjoying this very much. Maybe it will help me with getting blog inspiration.

Anyway! Just so you aren't getting a tiny post everyday, I will also be sharing my thoughts on things, or sharing info on my characters, because I realize that I haven't talked about any of my stories in quite some time.

Here's a few sentences about October:

"October Second" the calendar declared, not quite as excitedly as it had said "October First" but with more cheer than it would say "October Third."
The coffee mug on the counter giggled about the falling leaves, and the candle on the table sang of apples and pumpkins.



If you have any questions you want to hear my answer to, please put them in the comments and I will answer them in the next post.

October's 31 Days

On this, the first day of October, I have an announcement of sorts.

feel free to steal this image to use on your own blogs
I made it using Pixlr

I am creating a challenge called Kayla's 31 Days of October.
Here are the rules:

• Step 1 - pick a topic e.g. books, music, art, movies, people, food, etc...
• Step 2 - every day post a picture of, or, write a blog post about something related to your topic and mark it with the hashtag #Kaylas31DaysOfOctoberChallenge 
• Step 3 - if you write a blog post for the challenge, put a link to it in the comments!

I will be participating using two topics, books - on Instagram - and Polyvore clothing sets that I'll be putting together. And then I will use my blog to show both in one place.

Today's Polyvore outfit:

And the book of the day: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and other stories - by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Loved and Lost

Words that are so frequently quoted that I fear that people no longer stop to think it through before they just simply agree... 

It is better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all.

I don’t know what was going through the mind of Tennyson when he wrote that. I don’t know the context of that phrase. Or if he meant it. Or if he was speaking only for himself; or for the whole of humanity.

It is better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all.

I disagree. For to love, is to hurt. And I don't like pain. You may try to argue with me, but believe me, all loves hurt, if only when the object of that love leaves, or dies, or in any other way ends.  But love will continue on - except maybe for the lucky ones, where it was the love and not the object that died, but then... can that really be called love? - it will stubbornly continue to make life difficult, and sometimes downright miserable. How can it be better to live with pain, when the other choice is: never feel the joy that causes the pain.

It is better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all.

Even temporary separation hurts, only when you are with someone you love are you likely to feel the happiness.

On the other hand, perhaps "better" is not something for me to decide or understand. Maybe there is something to be gained that I have not discovered... 

I wouldn't give up love now that I have it, but I think I would rather never to felt it at all. For without love, there is no pain, no fear. 

But is a painless life worth living?

Is a love-filled life worth hurting over?

Do I love? Yes. I love a lot of people. And I don't love halfheartedly... so perhaps that is why it hurts. Perhaps that is why I'm scared. Scared of "loved and lost". Scared of being the only one to fall. Scared of being the last one to lose. 






[If you gained any knowledge or pleasure from this, please share with your friends, family, acquaintances, school mates, co-workers, stalkers, pets, etc...]

Here goes nothing...

Do you have something to live for?

It's not a simple question. At least, to me it's not. But it's one that should be asked.

Without a reason to live... 

well...

we'll die.

Maybe not physically die. Maybe someone can trudge through life, without ever living... but to me, that sounds like hell.

Do you have someone live for?

I do... in fact... without these very special someones, I honestly don't think I'd still be here... They are the reason that I don't want to die... they are my reason for fighting the depression, the reason I don't give in. They show me the joy in life, and the worth in having a passion.

Yeah, I love what I do, but... what matters more to me: 

Is who I do it with.

Without them, the fire within me would have starved... a long time ago... possibly before most of you even knew me.

They are my survival. 

So I hope they realize just how much they mean to me...

And I hope they believe me when I say...

That I love them.

And I will forever thank God that I know them... that they are in my life.

I couldn't stand to lose them. 

So if I ever tell you that you aren't allowed to die. Or that dying first is my job.

Know that I'm not joking. 

~ Kayla Rose Arnold

I just googled 'most beautiful picture of space'

the photos are not mine. I got them off of google

...Something... and an announcement...

Hey y'all!
I have done a lot more resting lately, which means my occasionally great eloquence is starting to return to me; SO maybe I will start writing magnificent posts on deep and quizzical topics! But until that happens, you'll just have to be satisfied by this kind of post.

What have I been up too?

I have recently been listening - almost exclusively - to the band Twenty One Pilots. I love all of their songs but some of my favorites are 'Car Radio' 'Heathens' 'Stressed Out' 'Ode To Sleep' and 'Migrane'. The songs are brilliant and I connect to them so completely - which doesn't happen often.

I have also recently watched three Bollywood movies: 'Student Of The Year' 'Dostana' and 'Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania'. I loved all of them.

School has begun again, and that is keeping me busy.
So are the two shows I'm in right now, the "Footloose" shadowcast, and "Sweeney Todd: the demon Barber of Fleet Street"! I'm in the ensemble for both, and it's a lot of work.

Also! I have an announcement to make! I have started up another blog! The Adventures of Luna Aquafall! It is blog for a fictional persona of mine named (you guessed it!) Luna Aquafall. She is a soon-to-be time-and-space traveler/explorer. And the blog is her way of documenting the adventures. So go check it out!

May Art Take You Over

Here I sit, listening to Beethoven, sketching anatomical hearts and lungs, pondering over the anime "Your lie in April", and creating thoughts that - at the moment - feel like they could one day become famous quotes.


So I decided to make use of this moment, in more than just enjoying it. I want to share it.


In this moment, I am at peace...
... It's something I haven't felt in quite a while.

In order to put out art, one must intake art...
... You can only move if your vehicle is properly fueled.

And you need a reason to create...
... Whether it be a person, place, thing, or idea.

Some art is to lose yourself in...
... Some is meant for finding yourself...
    ... And some is for finding others...

Some forms of art are there for when you need to whisper, scream, or shout, without so much as a word. And others are there to paint a soul with sound, be it with words or just instrumentation.

Go see art. Go listen to art. Dance it. Feel it. Smell it. Taste it. Love it. Hate it. Buy it. Sell it. Move it. Make it. Live it. Let it fully encompass you. Allow it to embrace you. Let art swell into every crack in your heart, mind, and soul. Let it hurt. Let it fill you with joy. May it make you laugh, make you scream, make you smile, and make you cry. May it move you to feel every emotion. Let it move your body.

May art take you over.

I love ya tomorrow...

Annie. The story of a little red-headed orphan that stole the hearts of Oliver Warbucks, Grace Farrell, and many others. A fun and heartwarming story. And I'm glad to say that I've been a player in the WCT production of Annie Jr.
It has been a journey and I've loved every step of it - even with the large amounts of stress I was under when we started, because I was also in two other shows. Now this chapter is closing... tonight's performance will be the last on the WCT stage. We will be taking one performance to Temple on the 20th, but largely, this is it. I have gotten to work alongside people that mean a lot to me, in a place that means a lot to me, doing something that means a lot to me. And really... I'm not ready to say goodbye.

Emotionally, I frequently struggle with stuff, but the thought of going to the theatre and doing a performance with my people, gets me through a lot of the rough terrain. I don't know what I'll do without it.

I'll miss everything about it.

• The quick changes 
• The backstage dancing 
• The feeling at the start of a performance
• And the feeling at the end
• The jokes exchanged
• The reactions of a good audience
• The excitement in my friends eyes 
• The whole cast
• Trying to remember good posture 
• Moments where you nearly break character but you prevail 
• Telling one another to 'break a leg'
• The costumes 
• Moments when you feel really good about how you gave a certain line
• The set 
• The crew and techies
• The production team
• Greeting the crowd
• The moments when the cast gets to know each other better
• The times when everyone can just goof off
• The occasional pre-show dance party
• Even the fact that this show's trend is: half the boys trying to flip water bottles and land them right side up
• Cheering during curtain call
• Acknowledging the techies
• Little girls asking for pictures
• The times of perfection
• Knowing that everyone beside you, gave their all to the show, just like you.

I love this show. 

So tired...

There came a point in my recent past where I was doing so much that I began to worry that I was going to burn out - in the proverbial sense, where we liken ourselves to candles or other flames, that need replenishing if you don't want them to die out - thankfully I don't think I reached that point, however I do believe that I was on the threshold, I feel as though I was very nearly extinguished and only received the nessesary fuel just in the nick of time. But I'm only just now starting to feel better and the fall semester is a mere couple of weeks away. Which means that if I don't want to go out, if I want to keep burning like the proverbial flame that I hypothetically am, I need to take better care of myself. Which is hard for me to do. I don't eat, hydrate, or sleep properly, and I don't exercise outside of theatre, all of which puts me in bad shape. And even though I have said that I'll do less, I'll 'take it easy' almost, I'm not sure if I can stick to that resolution. I have a hard time not doing a show. So I give you all fair warning, I'm going to be a very tired girl again this fall. But probably the worst part of it all... Is that I don't have the motivation to get better. Lack of motivation is my biggest problem, because it's the source of several others... I don't have the motivation to get something to eat if it's not readily available, I don't have the motivation to try and find a better sleep schedule, I don't have enough motivation to get into better health and shape.

 Whew... That's a pretty big chunk of words...

I'm tired. Very tired.

In other news, Annie Jr is going really well!!! One weekend down, one to go! I'm going to miss it when it's over. Meaning I'm mostly going to miss the people. But I do enjoy the show a lot, so I'm definitely going to miss it too! Yes, I do still enjoy the show! A lot of theatre friends don't like it very much, because "You can only hear Hard Knock Life so many times before you get sick of it all." But I'm not tired of any of it! I'm going to miss the story, the characters, the actors I'm bringing this to life with, the backstage dancing, the stress of the quick changes... I love doing it all and being a part of it all.

See you later!
~ Kayla Rose, the Smithy.

So Many Things

My apologies for the sudden hiatus. So many things have happened since my last post (which was over a month ago... ... ...).

In the Theatre Realm:

The Moulin Rouge shadow-cast is long over - it was a ton of fun; our production of Beauty and the Beast opened and in it's due course closed (the run ended on Sunday; and was also a lot of fun); and Annie Jr.'s first performance is today! And on Monday I also auditioned for the next shadow-cast production, which will be Footloose, and was cast.

It has been exhausting and exhilarating, but I managed to survive, and I'm going to keep on doing it. I plan on doing slightly less theatre for the next year, but we'll see how long that resolve lasts.

In the Writing Realm:
I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo, and for the first time succeeded in reaching my word count! With my story "The Silver Platter Of Reading" which takes place in a parallel universe where magic abides and the most magical things are stories, making libraries the most magical places. Five teens: Nyle, Birch, Peri, Amara, and Quincy, form the book club dubbed the Silver Platter Of Reading Club. But they do much more than just read and discuss; as proficient magic users, and top-notch brains, they help clients solve their magical problems, and go on quests for those who can't or won't do it for themselves.

It felt wonderful it accomplish the word goal, even though the story is far from finished. And I'm very pleased with the work I got done. Tell me in the comments what comes to mind when you hear those five names!


I'll try not to go a month before my next post!


~ The "Smithy," Kayla Rose

My Insanity

I am insane.

Now I suppose that that statement may require some explanation. And really there are several reasons why I claim insanity. But the one currently on my mind is this:

I am in three shows at once. 

... which I did last year and vowed never to do again. But here we are and I'm doing it.
Why am I doing something so insane as being in three productions at once?
Well.
Because I just couldn't say no to any of them!
I am in Beauty and the Beast; and shadowcast production of Moulin Rouge; and Annie jr.
Which are all things that I wanted to be a part of, so I auditioned for all and was cast in all.

So yes. I'm insane.

Fare ye well! 

Don't be like me. Unless you really want to. In which case, by all means! Do as you wish.