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Tiffany Rott

Adventures of a Storyteller

Month

November 2013

Confession Time!

I feel the need to come clean about something.

I do not usually ride the waves of popularity that catches most of the world in its wake. I haven’t read Twilight. I don’t know what the fox says. And I have definitely NEVER twerked. Most fads, I just wave to as they pass me by.

But there is one that I have gotten caught up in.

The Hunger Games

I didn’t actually read The Hunger Games until the movie came out (I did, however, read the book before I saw the movie). But since then (October, 2012) I have read the series 15 times. Well, I’m still reading Mockingjay. When I’m done with that, I will have read the whole series 15 times in just over a year.

You might ask why I torture myself this way. Let me explain. If you’ve read the books, you know that by the time you are done, you are an emotional puddle on the floor. I don’t like being a puddle on the floor. In fact, it can be a very uncomfortable place to be. But the lessons in The Hunger Games are so important I don’t want to lose them.

Lessons like:

What entertains you?

In The Hunger Games, children from the outlying districts are sent into an arena to fight to the death as ENTERTAINMENT for the Capitol people. These people enjoy, bet on, and eagerly watch The Hunger Games to see which child, out of 24, will be left standing at the end.

I never want to end up like that. After reading the book, I seriously sat down and thought of what I did for entertainment. I asked myself to really look at the implications of what I was entertaining myself with. Now, I’m not really into reality television (especially after reading these books where the show Survivor closely resembles the premise of the Arena except people aren’t actually killed), but I thought about the shows I do watch and the books I read. In re-reading The Hunger Games, it gives me a renewed desire to make sure I’m entertaining myself with things that would show honor and glory to God and lift up those around me.

What would you do to save your family and friends?

The whole books begins with Katniss (the main character) volunteering to go into the arena for her younger sister, Prim. The idea of her sacrificing herself for her little sister prompts thoughts of unselfishness in me.

When I read about Katniss and everything she does for other people (she doesn’t want to go into the arena, she just wants her sister to go even less; she doesn’t want to kill people in the arena, but she does want to protect those around her who are depending on her; she doesn’t want  to defy the Capitol, but she can’t stand the thought of more people dying and the Capitol succeeding again; she doesn’t want to become the face and voice of the revolution, but she can’t stand the thought of how many people will die if she doesn’t), it makes me examine my life and see where I have become so self-focused, that I have missed the pain, hurt, and discouragement that is going on around me.

What can one person do that would really make a difference?

As I mentioned before, Katniss becomes the rallying point for the Districts in their fight against barbarism and unjustness. I know there have been times when I haven’t done something because I thought that one person couldn’t make a difference.

That’s not true. Especially now, with social media, it is very easy for one voice to become thousands……And think of all the good that could be done if one person began connecting people all over the world with the same vision and passion.

There are many other things I think of as I read the books, but these are the ones I come back to time and time again.

Of course, all of this is brought to the fore-front right now with the release of Catching Fire, the second movie in The Hunger Games trilogy. In fact, tonight I’m going to see the movie for the second time.

Honestly, I don’t know when I’ve seen a movie adaptation that is this close to the book (with the exception of Pride and Prejudice which you can almost read word for word while watching the 1995 version). With that understanding, it is very intense, but brings up all these questions in my mind again.

So, I confess, I read The Hunger Games; I watch the movies; and, being an actor, I watch (read: obsessively find and view all) interviews with the actors. But, just as we are encouraged to do, I don’t read them mindlessly or only for entertainment. Through my Christian worldview, they become a jumping point for me to become closer to the world, friends, family, and, most importantly, my God.

 

Leap of Faith

About five minutes ago, I did something that required a huge leap of faith for me. I emailed a headshot and resume to a talent agency in Chicago.

I don’t do well with “putting myself out there”. I’m not an extrovert. I am firmly rooted to introvert side. The idea of saying, “Hey, look at this headshot. And what about this resume. Isn’t it a great resume. I mean, really, look. There’s a NYC credit on there!” to someone makes me want to wither into a leaf and be blown away by the wind.

But then there’s the whole obedience-to-what-God-has-called-me-to thing. I have been praying for direction for Him. I really believe He wants me to continue in acting. Through prayer and wisdom from others, I want to pursue this calling from God.

But I realized that sitting around and checking the THOUSANDS of emails I was getting from a casting calls website and a Christian filmmaking site, was not really doing everything I COULD be doing. I live fairly close to Chicago and decided to see if there were any talent agencies I could check out. So I looked, found one, and now (to be honest, about three weeks later) I have finally sent in the info they asked for.

Now, this agency might not be where God wants me to go. He might have a completely different path for me, but having taken this one step, I feel that I am at last giving it my all for His glory.

Now I just need to make sure I don’t stop here…………

NaNo 2013

 

 

 

 

I am desperately trying to ignore the snow falling outside and focus on a post about NaNo (NaNoWriMo [National Novel Writing Month]).

This is the fourth year that I’ve done NaNo and I felt like I needed to do something to change it up a bit. So I started browsing the forums looking for one of the amazing calendars that people make specifically for NaNo. I found one here. I love it when they have motivating quotes.

But, back to my endeavor to find something new for this year, I had done the calendar before. In my effort to do something different, I wanted to go WAY different. So I decided to write the quotes on index cards that I could cross off to keep track of progress.

Then I found another calendar that had a word challenge for each day. So I combined them and created my own NaNo calendar on the back of my door.
DSC_0432

Here is a close up of the quotes and challenge words (actually, I didn’t like the quote that was on the 29th, so I added this one, which I thought was very appropriate).DSC_0434

Also, for the first time, I’m writing from a place where all the hats and coats and warmth everyone on NaNo talks about are actually needed. So I thought I’d add warmth to my room with candles. I also find that when I use the same scent used every time, it write helps me get in the right mood.DSC_0438As full disclosure, I am WAY behind on my word count. But now that Second Sunday Series is over I’m hoping to make up for lost time.

Are any of you doing NaNo?

(PS My plan is to go out with my camera when I get home and take pictures of this glorious snow!)

 

Disney Dance Party

I carved my first pumpkin this year! And learned that it is quite the laborious process.

First, Elianna drew our chosen design on the pumpkin.DSC_0398

Chelsea made the first cut to take the top off.

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And then I started scooping out the insides:DSC_0401

It was quite disgusting:DSC_0402

And required serious focus power:DSC_0404

But in the end, I’m really proud of what we did! Elianna said, “If you have to use the term ‘negative space’, the design is complicated.” And I totally agree with her! (The arrow at the bottom shows up much better in person…….something to work on with next year’s pumpkin!)DSC_0414

We were actually getting ready for a Disney Dance Party. I decided to teach the dance we learned at the Disney audition. And, of course, we had to dress up for it.

Katniss made an appearance (with her mockingjay, mind you 🙂 ):DSC_0416

And Cinderella took time out of her busy schedule to join us (with her pre-coach pumpkin!):DSC_0417

Also, this random fairy princess made an appearance. Her skirt consisted of 12 yards of tulle and kept tripping her up, but she still managed to dance:DSC_0427

It was was SUCH a fun night! And I’m so excited with all that we accomplished!

Also, now I am REALLY excited for Catching Fire to come out!

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