Lucille Ball in Jamestown, NY

Hey,

Just got back yesterday from New York and Ohio doing college visits at University of Rochester and Case Western Reserve University. I liked them both. More on that as the application process goes on.

But, on the way back from those visits, my dad and I went to Jamestown, New York, hometown of Lucille Ball! There was a Lucy Desi museum there that we went to. It had a cool gift shop and a whole bunch of back rooms with her dresses and Desi's suits in them. They also had little fun facts about their lives and I Love Lucy. There were props from the show, like the cello she used in her clown act, and the fan that Fred used when the feathers blew everywhere.

But, my favorite part was the Desilu Playhouse. Are you ready for me to tell you what was in it? Are you sure? Ok. They had the ORIGINAL sets of their apartment for the show. Cool, huh? They had the living room and the kitchen, and the bedroom!

I will post pictures of the outside later...they wouldn't allow pics in the museum sadly...

Updates on the little kitty

Yo,

So, we have been trying to get the little kitten we found (who by the way is getting much healthy-looking and bigger) and Poppins to get used to each other, but there is much hissing and growling...yes, growling (I didn't even know cats could growl!) involved. Poppins even hisses when she smells the other kitten on another object. Talk about a power trip. The little kitten doesn't understand Poppins' territorial needs, I guess!

Well, it looks like we may not be able to keep the little sweet kitten :( But we tried and that's what counts. We are going to try a few more times with Poppins, but if its just more teeth and claws and grunts and groans (and growls), we will need to find another farm around here that she can live at.

I got school supplies today...........I don't know whether to say ick to that...or, well, ick...

Over and out...

The last week of filming!

So, last week was the last week of filming in our barn!

We are actually a bit glad that all the hustle-and-bustle is coming to an end because it was very disruptive actually! Our sleeping patterns were all out of wack, and we were constantly worried that someone on the crew would do something we didn't like or put something somewhere that we didn't want them to.

But here's a recap what what happened on the three days:

On Monday night, more scenes with David Arquette were filmed. He was running up the front lawn and into the barn where he proceeded to shoot his fake (yet still really loud) gun again. Which I'm sure woke up half of Manchester. He did that scene about 78032597 times before they found a take they liked (honestly, I didn't see any difference between the 3425th take and the 3426th take, but whatever). There were some more scenes where the extras ran out of the barn, and we could be in the barn watching that one because they used the whole thing in the shot...and they didn't want the creepy-homeowners-who-were-crazy-and-stayed-up-all-night in the scene...for now...dun dun dun...Then it was really cool because David walked into the snack tent, and my mom and I, being the weirdos that we are, went in the tent too. I think he saw us because we were being very obvious while we were talking about our farm...hehe. Then, he was walking back to the barn and he saw my dad leaning on one of our cars (and he guessed that we were the homeowners because he began walking towards us!!!) He asked us if we lived here and told us that we had a nice place. He introduced himself ("Hi, I'm David") and I was thinking...as if you NEED to introduce yourself! And then he shook all of our hands! It was cool.

THEN later in the evening, my dad and I were watching him do a scene and he had a break. He walked right up to us on his own time (we didn't call him or anything!) and he started explaining to us how all this stuff worked! Then he asked me what year I was in school and what I wanted to do in college! The three of us talked for a little bit! This was all I wanted from the stars! Just to talk to one of them!!!

On Tuesday night, they decided that it was okay if they used me in the extra pool! So, they dressed me up and I had a fake knife sticking out of my stomach...it was awesome! All the crew then knew I was the homeowner's daughter right away! We did some walking in the barn scenes (look for me in the movie when Hayden is talking on her phone walking into the party) and some scenes where we were watching the Stab movies. We had to react to the same bit of film about 20 times or so, and we were all getting tired and had less of a reaction as the morning rolled on. Back in the extra tent, I met/recognized some people who graduated from Greenhills in 2007 and 2008! They were nice to hang out with me so I had someone to talk to. So, that night was fun and tiring at the same time!

On Wednesday night, there were no stars that came, but there were a lot of scenes where the star's photo doubles did the same scenes as the regular actors. It was a real repeat. But the cool thing that happened was this: Devin Scillion (I think that's how you spell his name) came and acted as the reporter for the crimes in the movie, and even Wes was amazed at how convincing he was! It was amazing! By the way, for those of you who don't know who Devin is (I didn't know who he was until Dad told me :P) he is a nighttime news reporter for channel 4 news...there you go...that was what happened on the last few days of filming!

A Leetle Keetty Found!

Hello,

Now for a week before last Saturday. My mom and I were going to PetSmart to get dog food for Liza when we saw a very very little animal cross the road and go into the brush. We stopped for a moment there and realized that it was a little kitten! So, we go on to the pet store and then we abandon the store idea and realize that we want to try to save the kitten. So we go home, get like 68 pounds of bug spray on (it had just rained), food and milk to entice the kitten, and long cloths, and begin our excursion into the woods!

First, we make the typical little kitty clicking noises that say "come here!" but that doesn't work, so we begin meowing...yes meowing. And whadya know! It works! The kitten meows back. This is the tool we used to locate where the kitten was going, because we couldn't see her.

There were a few times where she came out as if she wanted to eat, but then gets scared by out movements and goes back into the weeds. After about three or four of those, I finally grabbed her. And what skin and bones she was! I could feel each bone in her spine and her pelvis and her ribs...it was really sad. (And another thing, when we found her, this cat looked to young to be out on her own...maybe a little longer than my hand.) We brought her back home where we fed her cottage cheese and yogurt (those were the only things she would eat.)

That next Monday, we took her to the vet and found out she had a cold and a strange wound thing under her neck. Both of which are going away now. By the way, she weighed 1.2lbs...

Now she is doing very well. She has gained weight and feels normal now, her cold's almost gone, and her sore is healing.

She loves to be pet and purrs instantly when you enter the mudroom. We don't know if we are going to keep her or not, but if our other cat, Poppins, doesn't mind her, we may.

Lost in Ann Arbor!

Hey,

I've kept you a little out of the loop lately and I'm sorry. Let's start with the earliest adventure, shall we?

Well, not last Thursday but the one before that, I went to my SAT tutoring class in downtown Ann Arbor...and then later I had to go to my college essay class at my school, which is on the East side of Ann Arbor. So, I had to go from the West to the East. Well...I got to the tutoring place alright, but when it ended, I realized that I needed gas. My light had just gone on. But of course I'm complete poop at directions so my mom's trying to tell me how to get to the nearest gas station with little luck. So I told her I'd just "wing it." Um, let me tell you how THAT went.

FIRST, I'm trying to get to the gas station that my mom told me to go to. THEN I find another one that I pass like 3 times before I find the entrance. And its a SMALL station. Barely room for four cars. So after I'm done there, I'm trying to find Main St. which is not hard to do because it runs all the way down Ann Arbor. I find it, but I can't turn left onto it. So I go straight into places I've never seen before. Somehow, I end up by Blimpy Burger, which I have NO idea where that is. Then I magically end up on South University which is on the OTHER SIDE OF TOWN!!! Luckily that runs into State, but then I think I'm going the wrong way so I turn around. But I'm actually going the right way, so I go on Main then Liberty. But THEN I turn the wrong way on that, so I have to turn around. So I go into the parking structure to ask my how to get to school (because the road I normally take is closed). He tells me and I have no problems there. But THEN when I get to Geddes, an enormous oversized truck with a trailer blocks BOTH lanes so I have to wait for about five minutes. THEN I get to school. But then I get lost again going down town trying to get back to the University. Only buses can turn the way I want to turn so I have to go this roundabout way again. It's not as bad as the previous excursion, but its still pretty bad.

By the time I get home, I'm exhausted...

Updates on Filming

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I haven't been on in a while but it has been completely crazy. We have been having some of our basement walls replaced since filming began. So our house is on stilts until they get the new walls in. They already have one side but they are now crashing in the other ones this week. They will probably be done the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

The setup days consisted of arranging hay bales, laying down fake plastic limbs, stringing up party-like lights, party stuff. They were also setting up their sound stuff and camera stuff...it was cool! I will maybe post pictures once the movie comes out in April 2011...don't want to get the production company mad by releasing stuff before the date.

Our property had many semi-trucks and equipment on it during filming, but most of that stuff's gone now because they are taking a break filming in our barn for a week. Then they are going to come back and film for as much as five more days! Cool!! I am going to ask if I can meet some of the actors...not counting on a 'yes' but its worth a try.

There is a tent with AWESOME food that we can eat at dinner time! I had salmon the first night, flank steak the second, and a thick steak the third. There is also a truck and we can go and get snacks throughout the night. They usually only let crew (not extras) but since we are the homeowners, we can get the food too. It has ice cream, chips, fruit, candy, etc. The truck that makes the meals has a full kitchen inside with refrigerators and stoves! Cool huh?

So for filming: They started filming last Wednesday night (July 21) at night and they continued on Thursday night and Friday night. I stayed up all the nights and went to bed at 5AM each time. Only Wednesday I slept a little in the middle when nothing was going on.

On Wed. night, my cousin Caroline and her mom (my aunt) came over to spend the night and watch the filming. They filmed some extras going into the barn for a party, some scenes with Courtney Cox hiding in her car about to go in disguise into the party, and some running scenes in the basement of the barn. The mosquitos were really bad and I got a zillion bites.

On Thursday night, they filmed some scenes where the extras are dancing and whatnot at the party in the main floor of the barn. Then they filmed a scene where Courtney goes into the barn disguised as ghostface like the other kids. She plants a few cameras. They she goes into the loft and is attacked by the real ghostface. They did a few of the shots different ways to experiment which one they liked best.

On Friday night my best friend Evelyn came, and David Arquette came and did some scenes where he runs into the barn and tries to save Courtney who had just been stabbed. Oh yeah! I met Courtney's stunt double who fell off the loft into some hay for one scene and did some fighting scenes for another. I also met the stunt guy who plays the ghostface killer. He is a very nice person...which makes the movies a bit less scary.

So that's the news for now! I'm sure there's more from last week I'm forgetting, but I will add later if I remember. I promise I will keep posted on the other filming nights! An all around cool time!

Over and out!

It's official!

Well, its officially official! The movie's gonna be filmed in our barn! There are going to be about 120 extras and about 150 crew people.

They are looking for cool angles to film. The art crew is going to use some of the old barn wood form our corn crib to make a cool sign that will be used in the movie, and maybe a few benches.

Well, I'm tired...off to bed...more tomorrow on the beginnings of the set up!

Meeting Wes Craven!!!

I forgot to post the happenings of yesterday...

Well, about 30 people came to our barn; all were producers and set art people and camera people. They were trying to decide where they could get good shots in the barn.

Wes Craven came at about 5:45 and he shook my hand! He loves birds like I do and there were some dead birds outside the barn and he instantly looked at them.

We are going to hear from them today or tomorrow morning so they can tell us for sure that they are going to film in our barn and so they can give us a contract.

I'll keep you posted...

We're in the MOVIE BUSINESS!!!

So for some EXCITING news!!!

It is almost for sure set-in-stone that a scene from a movie directed by Horror film director Wes Craven called Scre4m (Scream 4) will be shot in our barn!

Here's the sequence of events that happened:

A college-aged girl came to our house and said that she was scouting barns for a movie directed by Wes Craven and that she wanted to take a few pictures of our barn to show her boss. That was on Friday night...

Yesterday, we got a call from that girl's boss saying that he and another guy were going to come out at about 3PM to look.

THEN today, we got a call from another person who said that some Producers are going to come out at around 9-10 so they can see what the barn looks like when it is dark out...they want to see it right before the sun sets, and when the sun has set.

THEN tomorrow, at around 4-6 I think, Wes Craven himself is going to come to our house to look at the barn and decide for sure if it's going to be used. But if the director himself is coming out, it is almost for sure that our barn is going to be used!!!!!

Exciting huh? I thought so...

Prominent actors in it: Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell, David Arquette

Well, I'll check in with the latest scoop from the producers and director(s)...

A second furry little surprise

Well, now for the second installment of the little brown bat story. Last night around 1:45AM (I guess that would be this morning actually!) ANOTHER bat found its way into my room. It is now trapped in the same window as the first one. My dad went and looked in the attic to see if he could see any signs of a colony...pack...flock...what is a group of bats called? He couldn't see any signs of them, but that means nothing because the experts told us that they can fit through a space as thin as the diameter of a nickel...or even a gap the diameter of a pencil! So, I'm not sure what's gonna happen from here, but all I know is that if another bat ends up in my room while I sleep, there will be some wrath involved...

I'm sleeping in my parent's room tonight. Tomorrow we are going to bring the bat to the Huron Valley Humane Society to be tested for Rabies just in case. There has only been one case this year and only like 1% of bats carry rabies in Washtenaw County, but you can never be too sure. The lady I talked to said that you wouldn't know if you'd been bitten while sleeping because it would just look like a pinprick...and that's like finding a needle in a haystack...with all the mosquito bites I have...

Well, I'll keep you posted on the Bat News

A furry little surprise!

Yes, I haven't posted in a few days! But so much has happened since Friday!

First of all, on Friday night, I woke up at 5:30 in the morning to a strange fluttering around my head. After a little eye focusing, I figured out that a BAT was flying around my room!!! So, I woke up my parents and shut my cat, Poppins, in my room to see if she could catch it (good luck!). A few hours later, I went back in and the bat was shut between the window and the screen on the west side. Later my dad climbed up a very high ladder and let it out by taking off the screen.

I will make separate posts for the different things that happened!

Have a good day!

A "MUST READ" Book

So, I have given you my opinion of a book that you shouldn't read, so now I will give you a series that you should read. And here it is: The Anne of Green Gables series. There are eight books in the series and they are very well written. I can't get past the language used during that time period. They are like Jane Austin books except a little easier and faster to read. As Anne gets older, there is the same dilemma of "Who should I marry" just like Jane Austin stories.

You just can't help loving how Anne always sees the bright side of things...many people can learn from her, including me.

Well, off to the store to get tea and groceries.

Over and out.

Another "Lay-Low" Day

Last night, I didn't have a very good night sleep, so I'm laying low again today. I was up at 1:00AM reading for a half-hour. I just couldn't sleep.

Mom and I are going to watch British movies today, which is super fun. I am into my Anne of the Island book, which is good, but I wish Anne would just love Gilbert already! I will probably order the 4th one soon...

I don't know what else is in store for today, but its fun to just do nothing!

A "Lay-Low" Day

Today is as hot as yesterday, if not a little cloudier, which helps. Even so, I am planning on staying indoors today drawing, reading, and maybe writing a story. It's just muggy past comfort out there.

To anyone who has not read them yet, read the Anne of Green Gables series. Good books. I'm reading the third one, Anne of the Island right now. I think my favorite so far is the first one.

Mom and I might go to Office Max later today to get some organizational things...NOT SCHOOL SUPPLIES...too early for that. There are signs up for that at Target, office stores, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Not fun.

Look out for drawings being posted soon. I'm done with two of them, but no animals yet. I'll wait for animals to post.

Have a good day!

107 zillion degrees and a Fair

Well, I'm back from the Manchester Fair now, and I have to say that it was smaller than I thought and a bit of a disappointment. Maybe it was because all I could think about was lowering my temperature. There were about 2 big rides, and a gazillion dumb carny games with dumb carny prizes. I guess I was expecting more of a Charlotte's Web type of deal: produce competitions, pie throwing contests, dunking tanks, animal judging, tractor races, etc. I guess that's what comes with a small town fair.

And on top of that, it felt like it was 105 degrees out. The tents absorbed the heat making it seem 10 degrees warmer! Ahhhhh!

Well, doing whatever we can to stay cool in a house with no air conditioning...

Summer Drawing Goal

So, I have a new goal for the summer and beyond...I know that is very typical of blog posts to talk about empty promises and goals that never get done. So why should you think any different of this one? Well, I'll tell you why! I will be posting the drawings I do onto this blog. They will be in watercolor and will consist of creative sketches of various wildlife creatures around the farm...but in a different style. These animals will have a quest that they will attempt to fulfill throughout the course of the drawings, a bit like a comic strip or a graphic novel. They might not be in the correct order, but eventually, if I get far enough, I will start a new blog with the story in order.

Just something to do over the summer!

A "Don't Read" Book

I am currently reading a book called "The Magicians" and I must report that this book is...not very good. It's actually really bad. Not bad like "icky" bad (but it can be that as well), but just bad as in its not worth reading. I'm already more than half way through the book and nothing exciting has happened yet. I'm guessing that something a little bit interesting might happen later, but I don't really have the patience to stick around and find out.

So, a word of advice: unless you want to be disappointed, don't read the New York Times Bestseller "The Magicians." And I'm fairly certain you do not want to be disappointed!

On another super special note...

Later today I'm going to the Manchester Fair and I've never been to one before. I've been to a fair, just not the Manchester one. I'm expecting there will be some kind of 4-H farm animal show (pretty cool!), a tractor show (I'm surprised Darryl hasn't come to derubberize his tractor tires), and I hope carnival games to win stuffed animals, and best of all...ELEPHANT EARS!!

It's going to be hot today...again. Michigan "hot" isn't like California "hot." It's more humid and the air is heavier here than California...

Well, I'm watching Ghost Hunters International right now (I know...dorky...but I like it!), so bye for now!

The Happenings of Today

Hello those of you reading this...

This is my first blog! Hope it turns out.

Well today, I had a meeting with an SAT tutor and I think it went well. She said that my goals were reachable. Which is good. This should help raise my scores.

Later today at 6:30 I went to the Manchester Fair parade where I saw my friend who was one of the "Class of 2011" Fair Queens.

So that was the excitement of the day. Tomorrow my dad and I are going to go to the Manchester fair which I hope has Elephant Ears because they are YUMMY!!!

Well over and out...I'm tired...