#alexandra gray

[elvars]

My favorite genre of characters

[viscountessevie]

Sharing a name with the biggest slut in the Ton, I vote Alexandra!

About this post

LMAO YES MICHAELA! Okay so this is two votes for Alexandra to be our Regency Slut™ Michaela Stirling!

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A post shared by Alexandra Jordan-Grey (@alexandragreyofficial)

(Gosh I want her to STEP ON ME)

I'll be keeping this as the Official Alexandra Vote Post so comment/reblog/tag (I don't count likes cos yall will like anything I swear ahhsksj) on this post if you'd like Alexandra as the FC/cast for Michaela Stirling. Feel free to also send asks like the anon above and I'll add the screenie of the ask to this post!

[transpantastic]

We look to 12 African-American leaders of the LGBT community—writers, activists, speakers, performers, thought leaders and change makers—who are the Marsha P. Johnsons and Bayard Rustins of today. Each of them are rewriting our entire community’s future with the important work they do on a daily basis.

[stanfordartsreview]

shirtless yurts and holistic hook ups: a review of 'higher education', the webseries

by ALEXANDRA GRAY

To avoid the pains of paraphrasing, I will provide a description of the show, as put forth by the creators themselves: “Created by Cody Behan, Weston Gaylord and Safiya Nygaard, Higher Education is an original comedic web series following the lives of the student tour guides at the fictional California University of Palo Alto (CUPA for short!), as they navigate hookups, startups, full schedules, flirty selfies, and other foibles of college life.” To date, there are four episodes of Higher Education that recount said foibles: “Holistic,” “Cooperative, “Popular,” and “Casual.”

The backbone of the show is its witty script and unique cast of characters that bring it to life. As previously mentioned, Jackie Emerson is the talent behind Quinn Thompson, a paranoid but sassy freshman. Ever since I saw Emerson eating berries on the big screen, I could tell that she would be going places. (I made it to the third paragraph before referencing The Hunger Games. I am proud of myself for this.) Cody Behan (’15) and Safiya Nygaard (’14) play Chet Madson and Priya Patel-Smith, respectively, and together they are “Chia Pret”¾ the over-the-top power couple that everyone hates. Their back-and-forth banter made them remind me of Ryan and Sharpay from High School Musical, but think more bitchiness, more yacht club, more mock trial, and less brother-sister relationship. Alon Devorah (’14) plays Umberto Lovelace, an overly confident lady-killer.  Weston Gaylord (’15) is the dorky but lovable Felixe Overcliffe, and has really got me wondering about secret societies on campus. The co-op green queen Bronwyn Overcliffe is played masterfully by Katie Straub. (Damn, just realized Felixe and Bronwyn have the same last name. Prediction for the next episode? You heard it here first.)

Most of these characters are introduced in the first episode, “Holistic,” to prove that CUPA attracts a diverse student body.  This collection of vignettes about the students is one of my favorite parts of the show: we see shots such as Bronwyn coddling a mushroom, Umberto’s “unparalleled artistic aesthetic” (he’s filming boobs), and Priya’s meeting of the first Greek fraternity for high school women, Omega Mega Gamma (OMG). “Using the holistic process, we value the whole student. As opposed to just your test scores, or the number of schools you built in Kenya one summer,” Gideon Grey (Buddy Gardineer, PhD) explains to the camera.

The second episode, “Cooperative,” pokes fun at the unique living style attributed to co-ops at Stanford, and is appropriately filmed at Chi Theta Chi. Quinn is delighted by the openness of the co-op, named the “Shirtless Yurt,” and the whole-grain, whole wheat, vegan food that is hers for the taking. She meets the “mother” of the co-op (Anneka Kumli, ‘13), a mysterious student whose speech is always accompanied by harp music. The mother can read Quinn’s history from her palms, and reveals to the group that Quinn is a fan of the Kings of Leon and that she is an imposter. Members of the co-op eerily chant “imposter,” and a flustered Quinn calls them freaks.  “That harp player totally sucks. His phrasing is unsophisticated,” she spits before fleeing. 

The next time you’re trying to kill five minutes, rather than let Buzzfeed tell you which flavor Hot Pocket you should make love to, check out Higher Education. You’ll learn invaluable facts of life, such as: marijuana pesto exists, daily Lao Tzu quotes are inspiring, and you shouldn’t act too thirsty. I am excited to see how the characters and story of the show develop, and I have high hopes for future episodes. 

For more info, check out Higher Education's Facebook, Youtube, and Website.

[stanfordartsreview]

5 Things I Learned from The Book of Mormon

by ALEXANDRA GRAY

Here’s a quick summary for those of you who don’t know the story:

Despite his wishes to go to Orlando, Elder Price, the Mormon of all Mormons, is assigned to spread the word of Jesus Christ in Uganda. If that wasn’t enough to make him hot under the collar, he is partnered with the nerdy, compulsive liar Elder Cunningham who clings to him like a leech to the fresh, open wound of an amphibian. Through a series of twists and turns, Elders Price and Cunningham are able to baptize more Ugandans than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has ever seen.

And now, here are 5 of the most important lessons I learned from this Tony- and Grammy-winning show.

Lesson #1: Be open-minded. 

Upon first meeting, the militant General Butt Fucking Naked steals Elders Price and Cunningham’s luggage, and he later holds Elder Price at gunpoint. However, against all odds, the partners are able to successfully bring him into the Church. “Hello, my name is Elder Butt Fucking Naked,” he says at the end of the show as he goes from door to door. Sounds legit to me.  

Lesson #2: Suppression of self-doubt is a great coping mechanism.

If you’re ever a missionary in Uganda and you begin to think that attempting to impress a way of thinking and living upon a group of people who have not asked for it seems “wrong,” don’t worry about it. Push all those negative thoughts out of your head, and bam! No more doubts and you can carry on with your duty to the Church.

Elder McKinley, stationed in Uganda, proclaims:

“Turn it off, like a light switch, Just go click! It's a cool little Mormon trick! We do it all the time. When you’re feeling certain feelings that just don't feel right, Treat those pesky feelings like a reading light, And turn ‘em off.”

This mechanism allegedly works for avoiding homosexual urges as well. Thank God.

Lesson #3: Female circumcision is, in fact, bad.

General Butt Fucking Naked believes that all of the female villagers’ clitorises will “power up” and kill him, which is why he orders all the women to be circumcised. Get this: he’s sorely misinformed. This wild misconception and painful procedure offends the Ugandan villagers so deeply that they’ll turn to anything to counter this vicious oppression - even the teachings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.  

Lesson #4: The cure for HIV/AIDS is closer than we think.

Many of the Ugandan villagers were under the impression that the only way to rid themselves of AIDS was to have sex with a virgin. They were wrong. Rather, one should have intercourse with a frog. (Colloquially, known as a “fuck frog.”) Joseph Smith did it, and it worked.

Lesson #5: If all else fails, throw your middle fingers to the sky and yell “Hasa diga eebowai!”

Translated, “Fuck you, God.”

    For a commentary on the shortcomings of organized religion, please go elsewhere. The hell if I know.