Long Time, No Blog!

Hey all!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been busy with things:

• Rehearsal and Performances of "The Drowsy Chaperone," which included singing, dancing, and altogether amazing silliness.
• School. I earned a grand total of 18 credits this last semester on top of the musical. I won't be headed back up to Idaho again until April, so I'll be in Albuquerque for a while.
• Surviving. Providing for myself was hard!

Anyway, I think you get the idea. Oh, it's Christmas today! You're probably not reading this on Christmas, but oh well. Merry Christmas!

Sorry, I've been really lame about taking pictures, especially since I didn't have a camera. Please note the past tense. I got a camera for Christmas! This means there will be pictures every time I post with my blog from now on, plus I can pimp up my Facebook. Woohoo!

So, that's about it. Nothing too new yet. I will probably start working soon, I hope. Um, yeah. So you can stop reading now. Really.

You still reading? Okay. Um.... Awkward.

Bye.

Awkwardly,

Sir Toby Belch, the drunkard

General Conference and Cooking With Craig!

WTMEF? (What The Mississippian Ear Fungus?)

Okay, so, first of all, I noticed that one of my highest traffic sources (along with Facebook and Hotmail) for this blog is acidrefluxcausessymptoms.info. I have no idea where that came from. WTMEF? That's just really weird.

Anyway. General Conference was just as awesome as usual, and all my favorite talks were during the Priesthood Session (non-LDS people that don't know what I'm talking about, contact me on Facebook). The first half of it convinced me to go on a mission (that is, it would have if I wasn't already planning on going).

Several things confirmed my necessity to go on a mission. Last conference, President Thomas S. Monson said it was a priesthood duty. Between then and now, I met Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I shook his hand and he asked if I was planning on serving a mission. What else was I going to say? I said yes. Then, this conference, three speakers said we had to do it, going even so far as to say that you would be mocking God if you decided not to go on a mission and then showed up to the gates of the temple expecting to get in.

I also liked the talk about having children in the Saturday Evening session, and President Uchtdorf's talk Saturday Morning. This Morning (Sunday), I really like President Monson's talk and this afternoon, President Eyering's talk. Those were my favorites.

After conference today, I was hungry. Naturally. So, I looked up a recipe for this mushroom cheddar chicken that looked really good, and went to gather the supplies. Brent had eaten the mushrooms that I had planned on using. So, instead, I... took artistic liberty in the creation of my food. Presenting.............

I Don't Really Know

That's right, I Don't Really Know, the strangest food invention I have ever made. Here's the recipe - 

I Don't Really Know Recipe

1. 1 can tuna
2. About 1/2 can of Cream of Chicken Soup (with milk already mixed in)
3. 2/3 of a carrot, cut
4. 1 egg
5. 6 or 7 crushed Pringles (I used Sour Cream and Onion flavor, you can use whatever flavor you want.)
6. About 1/2 a cup of shredded cheddar
7. Some bacon bits
8. A little Miracle Whip
9. A little vanilla
10. A bit of maple syrup

Mix all the ingredients together and cook over a stove, constantly mixing. Season as you feel is needed. I personally used lemon pepper, garlic powder, and smokehouse apple seasoning. Eat it while it's hot!

Believe it or not, this actually tasted really good! Here's some picture proof that I ate it, even though pictures can be faked, I hope you trust me.

Halfway through!

Nice big bite!

Yeah, it's good all right.

Oh, man! It's all gone!

You know who this is, and yet I'm still going to end it with my name,

Craig Griffith

First Two Plus Some Weeks of College

Sorry I haven't posted lately. Life has been busy, busy, busy! Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

Three weeks ago, I packed up all my things for the day-long trip from Albuquerque, NM to Rexburg, ID. We left on Wednesday and headed up. That first day included unpacking and meeting my roommates, who are great guys (all seven of them (it's a big apartment (three floors))). So now I am here...

So, how about a tour of my apartment?

 This is our entry way.

 Here is our kitchen. (Oven/stove side)

 This is the other side of the kitchen. (Sink side)

 Here's the bathroom.

 And the bathroom sink.

 This is me upstairs looking down.

 Behold, my closet. (I have a single room.)

 This is my desk area that I created out of what was in my room.

 Here is my dresser.

...And this is where I sleep! (Very comfortable.)

The next day (Thursday) I got a tour of campus with my sister, Sheree, my parents, and Sheree's husband, Brett.  I also got my student ID, textbooks, and met my orientation team. That night the I-Teams (the orientation teams) played games, including a sack race and melting a frozen t-shirt (Not at all easy).

Day 2 included other activities all day, learning about the school and whatnot. I auditioned and got into the New Student Talent Show singing "When Words Fail" from Shrek, the Musical! It was a lot of fun to be able to sing that song in front of around three thousand people.

The next week was the start of classes. My first class was Writing for Communication. It requires a lot of writing, believe it or not. My second was American Foundations. I have Brother Marshall for that, and he is excellent! His lectures are extremely engaging and interesting, and I really like the class.

My third class is Book of Mormon Pre-Missionary with Brother Riggens. Brother Riggens loves teaching and what he teaches, and that class is very enjoyable. Oh, here's a picture of me next to a viking, by the way. The viking used to be our school mascot, but apparently it isn't anymore.

Fourth class is Science Foundations, which focuses mostly on the relationship between science and religion and says why the two can work hand-in-hand and you shouldn't say that scientists can't be religious people. Very cool class.

My Tuesday/Thursday class is Voice Diction, a theater class in which we experiment with our voices. It is also a lot of fun. I have a one credit class on Thursdays that is simply an introduction to Communication careers and majors. I am also taking an online test-our option for a basic math course (Already two-thirds of the way through it.) and an online Economics course as well.

First week I prepared the songs "When Words Fail" and "Me" (Beauty and the Beast) as well as a monologue from "The Star-Spangled Girl" for an audition for the musical "The Drowsy Chaperone." I got a callback the next day, and then waited for four days until the cast list got up. I got on the ensemble, but I will know either tomorrow or Tuesday if I will get the opportunity to have a bigger part. I hope I get the chance.

I also joined Scroll Digital, the broadcasting internet news channel for BYU-I. So far I have not gotten any assignments, but... it will come, I'm sure.

My new church calling is one of four Fast Offering Coordinators who make sure that people go out and collect fast offerings on Sundays. I think that's it.

Toledo Suprise!,

Craig D. Griffith the First

eBay Success!!!

So after two weeks ago when I finished classes at CNM (15 Credits, 5 Classes, 4 As, 1 B), I started cracking down on getting things sold on eBay. My uncle, Kris, gave me and my brother a bunch of vintage Star Wars action figures to sell. Here's a few, plus the prices they are at right now.

Amanaman - Blink and you'll miss him! This guy was hanging in Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi

Current Price: $10.49

Prune Face - Again, if you blink you miss him! This guy was hanging out on the Rebel during the briefing in Return of the Jedi. Apparently he was on the Endor mission with Han and the rest.

Current Price: $4.52

EV-9D9 - Blink all you want, you won't miss this droid, the creepy droid leader in Jabba the Hut's palace. This figure actually has a mouth that moves! Isn't that sweet?

Current Price: (Believe it or not) $31.00!!!!!

Barada - He gets cut in half trying to shoot Luke on Jabba's barge in Return of the Jedi. He gets eaten by the Sarlaac.

Current Price: $8.27

There are other figures going for just as much or higher, or that we're expecting to. Some might go up to a hundred dollars! That's exciting. We're also selling a jewelry box and a necklace, both are very low priced right now, so if you want either one...

Anyway, more of that over this next week. Days until arrival at BYU-Idaho: 17!!!!! Excitement radiates from my body as I await my going away from Albuquerque and the fifteen hour drive up to Rexburg, Idaho to continue my exciting adventure of continuing education!

I found out what the first play I'll be able to participate in up there is. It's...

That's right! The broadway hit, that "musical within a comedy"... The Drowsy Chaperone! Guaranteed to make you laugh with it's hilarious music and characters!

Anyway, I'll be auditioning for it with selections from two musical pieces and a one-minute monologue. The musical pieces are "When Words Fail" from Shrek, the Musical and "Me" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I'm still deciding on the monologue.

But, for now... Sell! Sell! Sell! Let's get those action figures sold!

The Drowsy Blogger,
Craig Griffith

The Drunk in Arizona and Carlsbad!

So, two weekends ago I went on a trip to Arizona with my family. An hour or two in...

Yup. Blown tire. Switched to the spare until we got into a town that had a replacement tire... broke all the rules for driving on a spare and probably risked our lives, but oh well! We finally made it to my Grandma Kay and Great Grandma's house. My Great-Grandma is one hundred years old. We were able to be entertained there as we forced the cat, Pris, to chase a laser pointer. So much fun!

Anyway, the drunk. After that little thing in the Tuscon area, I went to Mesa (Pheonix area) to visit my other set of grandparents. The trip included taking the public transit train to downtown Phoenix to see my cousin play a game of arena football. He's on the Phoenix Rattlers, and they played against the Spokane Storm. It was a crazy thing.

Anyway, on the train we sat next to this guy...

(He's to the right. I'm sitting next to him. My brothers, Doug and Brent, are across from him. Doug's the one closer to the camera.) He started talking to us. Here's how the conversation kind of went.
Drunk: So, which one of you guys is going to be a doctor?
Brent: None of us.
Drunk: No, you guys look smart. Which one's the future doctor? Is it you?
Doug: No.
Drunk: You?
Brent: No.
Drunk: You've got to be a doctor.
Me: Nope.
Drunk: (Sings.) Shot through the heart, and you're to blame. Darling, you give love a bad name. (Speaks.) Here. (Holds out hand to Doug.) Lock your middle finger with mine and torque it. I'll torque the other way. (They do so.) Now your remember that when you become a doctor.

At this point there is a short period of silence, followed by the drunk asking Doug to do the finger thing again. Doug says no. He then offers his hand to me. I say no thanks. Suddenly, the guy starts cussing and singing again. Then:

Drunk: (To Doug) Do you know who you look like? (Silence. To Brent) Do you know who he looks like?
Brent: No, who?
Drunk: The drummer from Metallica. But not now. When he was younger.
(At this point Doug is taken away by my parents, who put him in between my two uncles, Scott and Robert, who are fairly large men.)
Drunk: (To me.) You look like a (profanity) Mister Universe. (To Brent.) But you look like a bad (profanity). I'd (profanity) rather look like (profanity) you then (profanity) Mister Universe over here. But do you think you're going to look like that forever?
Me: I suppose not.
Drunk: (Profanity) yeah, you're not. You're going to (profanity) lose those good looks in twenty years.

At this point, Brent and I are texting back and forth. Text will be in italics.

Brent: This guy is totally drunk.
Me: Oh yeah.
Drunk: (Singing.)
Brent: This is good practice for your mission.
Me: Haha. I suppose so.
(Enter a couple of cousins, one male, one female.)
Drunk: Hey, you. You a doctor?
Female: No.
(Sits across from Drunk, where Doug used to be. Male cousin remains standing.)
Drunk: She's fine. She your sister?
Male: No, my cousin.
(There is a small amount of time with awkward silence.)

By the way, while this is all happening, there are two guys who came in on bicycles who are laughing about the whole thing, watching from a distance. Their commentary included stuff like this.

Biker 1: Dude, those guys over there look so awkward next to that drunk guy.
Biker 2: Yeah, they look so uncomfortable.
Biker 1: Man, this is going to be a great story to tell their friends.
Biker 2: Yeah, man, they look like they want to slug that guy.

And so on. Anyway, after the moment of inactivity, the drunk grabbed the female cousin's hand. The male cousin proceeded to kick him and said, "You keep off of here!" The drunk proceeded to punch his hand and flex his muscles.

Brent: If he gets violent, we can take him.
Me: Yeah, we'll throw him off the train.
(Enter another man, Exit cousins.)
Brent: Do you smell that?
Me: Yes. That guy that just sat next to you reeks of weed.
Brent: Look at his expression!
Me: Yeah, he's totally high.
Drunk: (Sings, ending with:) (profanity, profanity, profanity)
High Guy: Shut (profanity) up.
Drunk: (To Brent) You are a total bad (profanity). I want to look like you more than (profanity) Mr. Universe here.
High Guy: (profanity) you, man. Show a little (profanity) respect. Get off the (profanity) train!

The drunk guy did so. The high guy got off later, and the bikers got off the stop before us, laughing all the while. So, that was my first experience with public transit. Fun.

The game was good, and even though I think I caught a cold either during the game or on the train, the entire experience was somewhat fun. The next day we had a big inflatable water slide at my Grandma's, which was a lot of fun.

This last weekend I went to Carlsbad Caverns with the Young Men/Young Women (That's the youth group in my church for those who don't know.) I was planning on making a video of the trip, but I'm not done yet, and I don't have pictures, so... sorry. But it was very spiritualy and fun! We had quickie classes during the drive up, where we rotated from car to car and were taught about church organization and what it means to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (For more information, contact me on Facebook!)

Anyway, this is my finals week, so wish me luck!

Finally Done,
Craig Griffith

New Suit

I got a new suit. It's black and pretty.

Nothing to new this week. I gave a speech in Public Speaking on No Child Left Behind. I aced it! Most of college was pretty dull this week. We've been rehearsing for our student plays in theater. That's about it.

I'm planning on auditioning for the New Student Talent Show when I go up to BYU-Idaho. It's going to be great! I'm going to sing a song from Shrek The Musical called "When Words Fail." It's very funny but also very touching. I hope I get into the show.

My new suit cost very little money due to there being a huge sale at JC Penny's.

Brent's back in Albuquerque, which is good. We are going to earn some money together on eBay. Hopefully I will earn enough money to pay for my books next semester.

I wore the new suit today to church. It was comfortable. I wish I could post a picture of me in the suit, but alas, I cannot for no such picture was taken. So... yeah.

The Man of the Year,
Craig Griffith

Dull Week.

Nothing Exciting happened this week. Literally. I went to school, I came back from school, I did nothing at all. Thank you and have a good night.

Cardassian Keldon-class starships

Me sledding on the stairs next to the La Cueva High School baseball field with some friends when we had the big freeze during the winter of 2010-2011 that closed school down for an entire week. Ah, good times.

Have a great week everyone! I'm watching the final Harry Potter movie tomorrow, I hope that it's as good as everyone says...

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,

Craigevort Griffith

Theater History

Nothing too new. Just sort of went on with life, college and stuff. So... let's take a look at my theater history!

2007
My first year at La Cueva High School, and it's drama department. Under the direction and instruction of Ms. Hall, theater has made my life much better then it was before.

The front of my old high school

2008

This was the year I did my first play, Thornton Wilder's Our Town. I played the town paperboy, Joe Crowell, Jr., and had nine lines. I prided myself in being part of the first two-person scene in the play, having a conversation with Doctor Gibbs, played by CJ Ferrell. It was a great first experience for the theater.

That same semester I was the farmer in Storytime Under the Big Top, which was a kid's play. I only had three lines, but it was experience.

Later that year I had the opportunity to play a tap dancer growing an extra foot in the hilarious play Airline by Tim Kelly. Other characters included a failing young producer, an ex-military head flight steward, and Mighty Man!

I also teched for Night of the Living Videos, which is a series of music videos onstage, directed and produced by students.

2009

This year I had my first directing job and my first assistant directing job. I was assistant director for The Odd Couple, both male and female versions, which was a lot of fun, despite certain difficulties that were had between certain people.

Me with some of the cast and crew of the Odd Couple!

I was also director for The Elevator, a student written play performed in my Drama 2 class. It was interesting, to say the least. I also played the contractor in that play.

The beginning of next year, I was assistant director for a second time, for Little Women. That was very fun as well.

Cast and Crew of Little Women! (I'm to the right, somewhere...)

I also participated in NOLV that year, acting as an Angel of Cool, Fox, Cop, and Priest to various songs.

Me in various roles in NOLV!

2010

This is when my acting career really gets rolling. First, I get the part of Luther Billis in Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, a musical that takes place during WWII in the South Pacific. I play a seabee who is very apt at getting in and out of trouble, and rips people off with scams. I sang a couple of group songs in it, as well as singing some solo lines and a reprise of "Bali'Hai." I got to dance around in a coconut bra and grass skirt as well!

Singing "Bali'hai"

Dancing to "Honey Bun"

Building up to "There is Nothing Like a Dame," which is after "Bloody Mary"

Those were good times. Later that same semester, I played characters in two hilarious plays - a pregnant alien in Twitch and a janitor and psychiatrist in Shrunken Heads. (Both the doctor and the janitor were different characters.)

After the summer, the school put on Bel Kaufman's Up the Down Staircase, in which I played the flirty teacher, Paul Barringer. I flirted with the main character and at one point had to handle a love letter from a student. How would you have handled it? Paul Barringer corrected it!

Flirting with Sylvia Barrett

Grading Alice Blake's love letter.

NOLV that year was exciting, and included me playing Professor Oak, a time traveler, a doctor, a monster, and a soldier's father.

Time Traveler

Soldier's Father

  

2011

First... I directed a Drama one show - C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was pretty good for a bunch of Drama One kids. I also had fun in the advanced show, in which I played Voldemort (Potter Puppet Pals), Callihan ("Gay or European" from Legally Blonde, The Musical), Benvolio (The Least Offensive Play in the Whole Darn World), and an extra in a couple of other scenes.

Then... the accumulation of all of my awesomeness into one show, one part... Sir Toby Belch in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. I danced, I sang, I cried, I yelled, I fenced, I faked almost barfing, I did almost anything you could imagine. 

This is just an awesome picture.

Kat Liptak as Viola and Vital Mazor as Fabian.

"Defy the devil!"

Richelle King as Maria and Dylan Holmes as Malvolio.

Dancing!

James DeAguero as Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

Drunk!

Anaubrey Shannon as Olivia and Jessica Barfield as Feste.

Fencing!

Dillon Romero as Antonio.

Another cool pic!

Actors already introduced.

The Future...

I'm planning on participating in plays at BYU-Idaho.

Thank you for reading!

The Man Who Knew His Name

Facebook Page and Other Stuff

Craig Griffith is now a page on Facebook! Be sure to get on there and like him! I will be posting all the things on the acting scene that I will be doing, as well as pictures and videos of past productions. It'll be great, and you won't regret choosing to like me.

This week was mostly boring, just going to college, coming home, and doing homework. Several exciting things did happen, though. I started rehearsal for my new upcoming play, Neil Simon's "The Star-Spangled" girl, in which I will be playing Andy, a young man working on a protest magazine in his apartment with his friend Norman. Soon, the two are involved in complicated love relationships when a pretty young Olympic swimmer moves in next door and threatens their magazine and friendship. One performance on Friday, August 12, 2011! Don't miss it! (Details about location to come at a later time. Thank you.)

I had to do two speeches in Public Speaking this week. One was a master of ceremonies speech, in which I had to introduce someone. I introduced Stephen Colbert. I only lost one point on it, and that was because the teacher "wants me to improve." My other speech was a comedic speech, which I did on "If Public Speaking Class Was a Musical." It included songs such as "Why Did I Take This Class?", "Not Another One," "Where To Put Each Hand," "Freedom," and "My Name Is... Um..." I got the whole class laughing with that one. Winner!

In Intro to Business we are doing a stock market investing project. The essay portion was a huge pain, but the actual hypothetical investing is actually quite exciting and fun! My group (aptly named "The Indecisive") invested in Exxon Mobil, Amazon, Disney (that was my suggestion), and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. My stock so far is second best next to Amazon, and we have earned nearly foour thousand dollars! (Hypothetically, off of and original one hundred thousand.) Woohoo!

In intro to theater we are writing and performing plays. My group's play takes place in the woods on a camping trip with two boys and two girls. The boys brought a tent, and the girls thought the boys were going to take care of everything. The tent is two-man, so the two fight over who gets it. The men win out, but the girls scare them out and take it, only to find an unexpected and unpleasant surprise inside, and it slithers... I'll try to get it filmed so I can post it. (It won't be for a couple weeks)

So, that's what's new in CRAIG WORLD!

My New Blog!

My sister was doing it, my mom was doing it, so I thought... why not? After all, if they jumped off a cliff, I probably would too, so here it is - the best blog in the whole of Planet Craig (what the rest of you call Earth)! This blog will update what is new with probably the most important person on this planet (mostly because the planet was named after me). I hope you enjoy it, and of course you will, because I am the most interesting college student and actor in the universe. No joke.

Signed,
The Really Amazing Guy