Today’s the day! Rumpsies, it’s here! My last day of senior year!

It is a sad day, yes, but also a joyous one. I am about to make my way into society as a filmmaker, and before I know it I’ll be the first name in a line of credits. I can see it now, my Raven Rumps. I can see the end scene of a movie, and the blackout before the credits roll. And suddenly, you see a flash of white letters that say: Directed by Sabrina Barton. But enough of future plans, because this blog is supposed to be a recap of my senior year.

This past school year has been one of the most intense, and fast, years of my life. It started out will fall play auditions in the summer, and that was the start to my senior year. We worked on the play and then found out we couldn’t get the rights, so I decided to write my own play. This was probably one of the best decisions of my life, because now I know for sure what I want to do. I learned a lot from writing and directing my own play; I learned about working with others, being patient, and how to be kind to the people I’m working with. Fall play was wonderful, and that gave way to one act and speech season. Those seemed to fly by, and I feel like my public speaking skills are better than ever because of this. I feel like first semester went by really fast. And it was one of the easiest semesters of my life.

Second semester went by even faster, with book talks, art projects, and writing another play. I loved every moment of it. Some of my classes were a bit more difficult to deal with than others, but it was an important lesson on being patient with others. I’m actually a really impatient person. Writing another play was an amazing experience, and I got to work with a cast that didn’t have much prior exposure to theatre arts. I hope that I was nice to them and showed them the beauty of theatre.

Honestly I’m not very good at recaps, because it forget a lot of the events that happened. I remember the people, though. Some of the best people I’ve ever met have been a part of my senior year, and I can’t imagine my life without them. I especially want to thank my fantastic English and Drama teacher, who has been like a second mom to me throughout my four years at Platteview. She has accepted me for the dark and spooky flower that I am, and has allowed me to be as creative as I can be. She is a wonderful mentor in theatre, and a best friend whenever I need someone to talk to. She taught me how to be myself, and I know that I’m going to miss her more than any of my other teachers.

It’s been a great ride, Rumpsies. There have been laughs, there have been tears, and there have been awkward bursts of color amongst the darkness when I lost who I was, then found myself again. I have made friends, had fights, recovered from long nights of studying by pumping myself full of caffeine, and learned to never be afraid of myself. I’m sad to go, but I’m excited for everything that awaits.

Signing off,

your lovely, spooky, going-to-be-famous, magnificent blogger, Sabrina Barton~

Hello, dearest Raven Rumps. Recently we’ve been studying poetry in English, and I’ve been rather inspired. I thought I would try my hand and see how it goes, so he’s a poem from yours truly. This poem is based off of a drawing that I did, entitled, “Blanche,” which I plan on making into a canvas painting during the summer. Hope you enjoy!

“Blanche.”

There once was a girl who had an umbrella,
Under which it rained.
She carried the umbrella wherever she went,
To remind her of happiness feigned.

Everyone would ask her wherever she went,
“Why does your umbrella rain?”
And she would always answer to them,
“To drown out all the pain.”

It’s rather short, but that’s what I came up with. This will be my second to last post for the year, and I’ll submit my senior year recap very soon for all of you to read. So long for now, Rumpsies~

Beware! Beware, Ravensies, the time of the great burning orb is nigh! All babybats return to the crypts, all goths slather on the sunscreen, and all other spooky types don your lightweight fabrics and bring out the parasols and fans!

Yes, dearest Raven Rumps, summer is to be upon us very soon, and it’s the time when most of us hide indoors to protect our delicate complexions and keep away from the angry burning ball of fire that hangs in the sky to bring heat stroke down upon the ooky-spooky ones who wear their dark finery during the warmer months of the year. Most goths consider this the worst time of the year, but I happen to be one of the few who actually welcome the summer months with glee. I enjoy warm weather, the ability to drink iced tea blends without freezing to death, and the longer days that make for warm nights that are perfect for stargazing. However, summer is also very difficult for me in the way of lightweight outfits, keeping my skin nice and pale, and avoiding being an overheating mess all the time. This summer my parents and I are going to be spending a week in Orlando, Florida for a Disney trip before I go off to college, and I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently: how am I going to survive in Florida while still looking dark and spooky? This blog is going to be my abbreviated guide on how to be a goth and survive in the summer.

The first thing that you absolutely MUST do in the summer is wear sunscreen. All the time. No exceptions. This isn’t just for goths, and it isn’t just about keeping your skin pale (you don’t have to be pale to be a goth, there are goths of all skin colors and ethnicities.); it’s about protecting your skin from the sun’s harmful rays. Skin cancer is a real concern, and, on the less extreme side, sunburns aren’t very fun to deal with.

Another thing you can do to protect yourself from the sun is carry around a parasol with you. It not only brings a nice spot of shade with you, but if you get a black parasol made of a solid material it can absorb almost 90% of the sun’s rays, keeping you cool and your skin happy. If you’re worried about lugging around a parasol with no place to put it when it’s not in use, there are a few on amazon that are collapsible and fit into purses for around $20. I’m also going to include foldable fans in this section, because they look wonderful when paired with a parasol and they can create a nice, personal breeze wherever you are to keep you from overheating.

The next thing to keep yourself a dark, little, “shade-only,” blossom during the summer is to wear lightweight clothing rather than layers upon layers of bustle gowns and lace. One thing to keep in mind about wearing black during the summer is that it absorbs heat, so if you want to wear it look for lightweight, breathable fabrics such as cotton, silk, and other natural cloth. Almost all man made fabrics capture heat because they aren’t breathable, so keep that in mind when you’re looking for summer wardrobe pieces. Skirts and dresses made out of flowy materials are always a good idea, because they allow air flow and aren’t constricting like pants are. For the gentlemen readers who are uncomfortable with the notion of wearing skirts, lightweight trousers and flowy shirts keep the heat off.

Another notion, which may come as a shock to some of you, is that you DON’T have to wear all black in the summer. “What? I thought that all goths wore all black all the time, and if they didn’t they were one of those poseur goths!” No. Goths can wear colors, too, but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about. I’m talking about greys, ivories, and even white! These colors, when paired with the correct accessories, can be striking.

Hats. Hats are another important wardrobe staple that can keep the sun off, as long as you choose the right one. Big, floppy sun hats can be decorated with lace, piles of tulle, tiny bats, feathers- just about anything you can come up with. Top hats, on the other hand, are generally heavy and made of materials that will trap heat and keep your head nice and toasty- the opposite of what we want. Jillian Venters of Gothic Charm School has, however, noted in her blogs that there are straw and raffia top hats out there that are good in the summer, but I in no way advocate this type of hat because I don’t own one, and I don’t know how much cooler they are.

My last tip for goths trying to stay cool in the summer months, is to slow down your activity. Walk slower, don’t overwork yourself, and make sure you stay hydrated. Walking slower helps the body keep cool, since the muscles aren’t trying to work too hard, and giving yourself ample time to rest during the summer can help you relax. Also, staying hydrated is absolutely a must. It can be easy to forget to drink water, especially during meals when we will often favor a cold soda over a glass of water. Soda actually makes the body work harder to process the sugars and caffeine, dehydrating you further. If you’re going to be outside a lot, it’s better to drink water during the day and save the soda for the evenings.

Well, that about sums it up for me, and I plan on taking all of these tips to heart for my upcoming Floridian adventure. The main thing to remember is that you need to look after your health during the summer, even if that means giving up your precious Hell Bunny “Florence” jacket and corsets for the next few months. I hope this has helped, Rumpsies, and I encourage you to find your own ways to deal with summer heat. See you next post~

Hello, my Raven Rumps!

It’s been a long time, I know, but I’m back! This blog is a little bit off of my usual dark and spooky posts, but I think that this is a very important topic that I need to touch on in my last few weeks as a senior. What is this mysterious topic, you ask? Well, Rumpsies, allow me to elaborate.

What are we actually learning at school? Is it the subjects that are taught to us? How to interact with people? How to tell the good friends from the fakers? Well, the answer, in my opinion, is all of these. This blog is simply my thoughts on this subject, none of this is hard evidence or anything. Simply speculation.

Alright, first things first. I do believe that we learn the subjects that are taught to us, if only in a brief manner. In my opinion, the way high school is set up is so that they teach us how to pass tests, not necessarily teach us the material. We are taught that as long as we pass the test we will get a good grade, so for many of us (Myself included sometimes), we memorize the material rather than learning it and forget is as soon as the test is over. Now, I would bet that at this point you’re asking yourself, “Wait, isn’t memorization and learning the same thing?” The answer is no. Memorizing consists of repeating things back to yourself until you can recite or emulate them in the manner that they were taught. Learning is being able to take the things that you have been taught and apply them to real life situations. For example, one can memorize a piece of music on the piano by listening to it over and over until they can play it perfectly, but the might not know how to read music to play other pieces, because they were never taught how. They were taught to emulate, not to examine. This is the problem in most schools, that we are expected to do a certain thing to get a certain result and the skills are never truly learned.

Okay, enough with that side of the rant. I should probably go over the more social aspect of what we are actually learning in school, such as how to interact with others. School is a controlled setting where we can learn public speaking, social graces, and other important things that we need to know for communication in the real world. We have our groups of friends, which we socialize with and learn how to behave in public, and we have teachers who represent authority figures and guide us in our lives. We also learn how to deal with people who don’t have our best interests in mind, and we learn how to ignore them and handle situations properly when things get out of hand. These are all necessary skills for functioning in the workplace, or in society in general. Social interaction in high school is a good foundation for the rest of your life, and if you learn how to do it right in high school then you’re going to know how to do it right in the real world. Most students don’t understand this, however, and are content to be immature until they graduate; usually when this happens, they’ll hit college and not know what to do with themselves and end up flunking out. If you’re clever enough to pick up on social behavior in high school and learn how to interact with others professionally, you’ll be just fine.

Once again, my opinions are my own, and I don’t expect everyone to share them. Many of you may agree with me, others of you might see this blog as completely ludicrous. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the matter because I am in my last few weeks of high school and felt as though I needed to give one last reflection on what I think I actually learned in high school.

I promise that my next blog will be as ooky-spooky as they usually are, including a rant about being goth in the summer! ‘Til next time, my darling Ravensies~

As promised, here is the review of “A Nightmare’s Holiday!”

This curtains were closed. The auditorium was black. The only sound to be heard was the chilling melodies of music by Danny Elfman, and I sat in my seat feeling as giddy as a goth in a graveyard.

Suddenly the music turns to the recognizable and haunting theme of Halloween Town, and the curtains lift to reveal a backdrop of black, bent-over houses with red lighting behind it, and the characters all come out in order of appearance at their cues as in the movie. They all are dancing in a creepy, elegant form of ballet to this particular piece, and the artistic genius is absolutely dead on. Last, but not least, out from the shadows steps Jack Skellington, played by James Delage, and it takes all of my self control to keep from squealing in glee at the sight of one of my most favorite Tim Burton characters. Not only is the dancer tall and slender like the Pumpkin King himself, but he has such a mastery of his craft in this role that it feels as though you’ve been taken from your seat and are floating in a world of skeletons and bats.

The costuming was absolutely perfect; the fabrics were chosen right, they didn’t look messy or thrown together, as costumes sometimes do, and they were absolute reflections of the characters that were being played. My personal favorite was the girl who played the Mayor of Halloween Town. She was dressed in black pants and a grand peacoat with long, draping tails in a fabric of black and white swirls. She wore a mask resembling the face of the character she played, and a small, glittering, black top hat sat above her hair bun on the top of her head, slightly askew.

The acting was spot on, all of the characters were portraying their roles to the maximum effect. The Jack Skellington was curious as ever, and Sally was just as cautious and protective of Jack as she was in the film. The extras, who played a merry assortment of elves, toys, vampires, broken dolls, and all sorts of other things, added immensely to the performance and were beautifully and artfully represented in their dancing.

The only negative thing I have to say about this particular show is that they storyline differed from the original one a little bit, because instead of Christmas being ruined by Jack and the Pumpkin King having to get Santa to fix it, he delivered his nightmarish presents and that was that, and they were all friends afterwards. I understand that there’s only so much you can do with a ballet, however, and what they did have was magnificent.

Whoo, sorry it took so long to get this review up! Between finals, writings, and all sorts of other distractions, blogging got put to the back burner. But! That shall not be an excuse any longer, I have a duty to you, my lovely Raven Rumps, to keep you entertained with the oddity that is my life. I promise a post about Christmas gifts sometime next week after the glorious day, and until then I bid you goodnight~

Well, my dearest Raven Rumps, I apologize in advance for the shortened length of this post.

As I write this I am on my way out the door to go see “A Nightmare’s Holiday,” a Nightmare Before Christmas themed dance show put on by the Creighton Dance Company. My eyeliner is perfectly curled and I’m ready to review this hopefully dazzling tribute to the greatest Christmas movie to ever hit the big screen. Can you believe it’s been over twenty years since this Tim Burton Classic came out? It seems like only yesternight I was a young, budding gothling* watching the Pumpkin King serenade me from his ghoulishly charming home of Halloweentown for the first time.

Anyways, it is time to go, and rest assured I will have a review of this performance up as soon as possible. Until next time~

*Gothling: another term for Babygoth, not to be confused with Babybat.

What’s this, what’s this? There’s color everywhere!

What’s this? There’s white things in the air!

What’s- Oh, wait; It’s only winter.

Yes, dearest Raven Rumps, winter weather has officially begun in the Midwest. Bring on the cold weather, fluffy coats, and, of course, snow!

Winter is often one of the most favored seasons by goths, and it’s easy to see why. We often wear layers of clothes, which can get hot in the summer, but are perfectly adapted for icy days in which warmth is sought after. Also, it is a season in which everything falls into a deep slumber and is covered by a beautiful layer of frozen wonderment, which is not only pleasing to the eye, but also to the ideal held by most goths that there is beauty in death.

Actually, though I enjoy winter when there’s snow on the ground, I prefer the warmer weather of summer, even though the giant angry burning orb in the sky is quite troublesome at that point in the year (But hey, that’s why they invented parasols). I would like to talk about the ways I fashionably deal with the cold weather as a heat-loving creature of the night.

Firstly, the most important thing in a goth closet for dealing with cold weather is a good coat. By good I mean big, fluffy down feathers, because those really seal in the warmth and fight off the cold. My coat is by the brand ZeroXposur, and I’ve had it since eighth grade and it still keeps me warm to this day. Of course they usually have “normal” colored coats and such, but the black ones they have are often trimmed in glossy buttons and faux fur, and made with a shiny, thick, satin-like material that would make any goth sing with glee at the quality of the fabric.

Another thing I like to add to my closets for the winter season is scarves. They are not only cute, they are wonderful pieces to wear indoors that no one will throw a fit about. Around the fall and winter months the stores are stocked full of plenty of scarves for those who enjoy the fashionable aspect of this particular garment, but I wear them for the ability to keep warm in school and get away with it. Also, they keep the cold winds off your neck when you’re outside, which is wonderful for temperature sensitive people like myself.

Black leggings are also magnificent pieces to own, because they can keep your legs warm while still allowing you to wear the super cute mini-skirts that so many of the subculture (including myself) are fond of. They make it so that you can wear summer pieces in the winter, and that makes my life so much easier.

One last thing for goths to consider during the winter months is proper footwear. I happen to love flats and dainty little confections to slip onto my tiny feet, and I’m absolutely fond of platform boots, but let’s face it: in the cold weather with ice everywhere, neither of those options are practical. Flats won’t keep your feet warm and if you have to go through snowy areas you’re bound to get snow all over your exposed skin, and platforms are quite frankly dangerous on icy patches. My advice is to get some low-heeled combat boots that are at least somewhat insulated, because they provide good traction, will keep you warm, and are still very dark and stompy looking.

That’s about all I have for the wintery themed blog, and if I think of anything else I’ll add it in later or make a part two. Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the vampires bite~

Well, Ravensies, I suppose I should follow through with my promise and write about a more gothy topic this week. The subject that has been brought to my attention this week is oh-so-cliché and absolutely necessary: the stereotypical goth.

Everyone knows the traditional goth stereotype: black hair, chains, a gloomy attitude, and let’s not forget the dark and ooky spooky makeup. Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t necessarily the cookie cutter that shaped every goth out there, because we are all different in our own unique ways. I guess what I’m really trying to get at for this week’s blog post is that you don’t have to follow a certain pattern to be a goth.

The first thing I would like to discuss about this topic is the common debate that I’ve heard many times: can you be too old to be a goth? The answer is no. Anyone can be goth, and it doesn’t matter what age you are. If you want a wonderful example of an Eldergoth* that I greatly admire, look at Jillian Venters, the author of “Gothic Charm School: An Essential Guide for Goths and Those Who Love Them.” She is actually a great inspiration in my blog because she, too, keeps a blog over the gothic subculture. I will leave a link to her blog at the end of this post, because she has wonderful advice and ideas.

Another stereotype that I would like to dispel is that you have to have black hair to be a goth. That is an absolute untruth, and I don’t know why people think this. I have recently been getting a lot of flack for this, actually, because my hair is currently a reddish brown instead of the blueish black it usually is. I don’t really think it matters what hair color you have, even if you want to keep your natural color, because, though it is a major part of the subculture, appearance isn’t everything. Honestly, you could wear white every day and listen to whatever popular music you wanted to and still be goth, because more than anything goth is about the mindset of the person, not the appearance.

Another stereotype that I would like to get rid of is the idea that goths hate everyone and everything, are depressed, and you can’t be happy if you’re a goth. These are outright lies, Rumpsies. I am appalled that some people think this simply because of our preference for dark decorum; we are actually, in my experience, some of the nicest people you could ever meet, if you take the opportunity to get to know us. The whole idea that you have to be depressed to be a goth is absolutely foolish, and whoever came up with that deserves to be hit in the head with a croquet mallet. Goth isn’t about depression, it’s about finding beauty in unexpected, and often dark, places. We are often very happy people because we have found where we fit in, and it makes a very comforting lifestyle to know that there are other people out there who are just as strange and unusual as yourself.

There may be a part two to this blog at some point, my Raven Rumps, but for now this is what I leave you with. These are very important things to know about the subculture, and I hope that you all have learned a little bit from this post.

Until next time, lovelies~

*Eldergoth: an Eldergoth is someone who has been in the subculture for a very long time, or is much older than the usual gothic crowd. They often have a vast amount of knowledge of the subculture, and are very wonderful people to know and or more often than not inclined to help younger fledgling goths with the ins and outs of goth. When I say Eldergoth I’m not kidding, either. The subculture has been around since the late 70s early 80s, so we do have quite a few older members.

Link to Gothic Charm School, Jillian Venters’s blog: http://www.gothic-charm-school.com

Well, Rumpsies, I was originally going to have this post be about the ending of the Hallowe’en season, but some new things have come up and a new topic has emerged.

Today I wish to discuss with you something in my personal life, which I usually try to stay out of in this particular blog. You see, I have posted previously about my new infatuation with a certain someone who shall remain nameless, and I am very confused at the moment. I’m trying to figure out what the heckie I’m supposed to be doing with my life right now, I am very busy with Fall Play, I have scholarship papers to fill out, I must keep up my grades, and on top of everything (That’s right, my Raven Rumps, EVERYTHING) a new potential suitor has arrived out of the blue.

I honestly have no idea what to do.

You see, here’s my problem. I like both of them, but the one that I like more seems to be not as interested as the other. Oh, cruel fate! I’m not trying to be a drama queen about all of this, it’s just that I’m very confused and on top of this confusion I have mixed feelings about both of the suitors. The one that I prefer sometimes sends me signals that he is interested, and other times it’s almost as though I don’t exist, a mere shadow among shadows. I just wish that he would be straight forward and let me know if there was even a chance that I could win his heart.

The other one, however, sends completely clear signals that he wants to be with me, but there’s only one problem that I don’t know how I feel about: He is a little younger than myself, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I have always wanted the person whom I spend my time with to be older, and it’s just a little hard for me to get over my own ideals. I’m not even sure if I like this person enough yet to even consider a relationship, and I just wish that I had an idea of where my life is headed right now.

I am utterly, thoroughly confuzzled about the whole situation, Rumps, and I just needed to vent and get my feelings out. I know that this is rather out of character for me, to post about such things, but I felt the need to tell someone about what is going on. It makes me feel a lot better, really, to get it all out in writing.

This just goes to show, when you think your life is going in one direction, something pops up out of nowhere and it can either steer you a different way or encourage you on the path you are already on.

I’m terribly nervous and excited at the same time to see where this is headed, and I promise that next week I will be back to my normal, gothy-blog self. Toodles~

Well, Raven Rumps, I would say that things are going quite well for me.

My production for Fall Play is in full swing, and it’s going to be absolutely marvelous. You’ve already read my previous post about the whole Fall Play fiasco, but, as I had hoped, we chose to do the student written scripts. Oh, how glorious they are! My production is, like the rest of them, a murder mystery. The main difference of the scripts is that mine is a drama whilst the other two are comedies. Of course I can’t reveal too much, otherwise it would ruin the ending, and I am quite fond of plot twists.

All of the actors are to have their lines memorized by Tuesday, and I’m actually quite nervous for myself. Between band competitions, college visits, homework, and play practice itself, I haven’t really had much time to look over my lines by myself and try to learn them. Then again, I usually study best under pressure, so I suppose it’ll all work out in the end. The costuming is going to be absolutely lovely, done in shades of ivory, red, black, and grey. I won’t say too much about it, because I’m not exactly sure of the pieces that I have to work with, but it’s going to be Victorian type clothing and the whole production is heavily based off of Emilie Autumn, as mentioned in a previous post.

I couldn’t really think of anything else to post about, Rumpsies, and I’m rather tired, so this is where I shall leave you. Rest in peace~