• TAGGING → Kurt Hummel
• TIME FRAME → Thursday, February 12th (Real Time November 12th, 2015)
• LOCATION → A club room in CSD
• GENERAL NOTES → Kurt discovers that maybe this club wasn’t so bad after all.
OOC: **I have never played Dungeon’s & Dragons and I apologize if anything is incorrect.**
Going in, Kurt had been totally against Dungeons and Dragons solely due to the nerdy connotation that came along with it. In high school Kurt had gotten enough ridicule from his sexual orientation and his Dad’s career that he did not want to add another target on to his back. Being a nerd was fine but not what he wanted to label himself as and kept himself on the strict path that he had made for himself. Now here he was, many years later where he has to play the game for college credit. Sure, he wants to graduate and these help, he just never though D&D would be part of that journey. He should be sending our head shots and resumes, not choosing an alignment.
Kurt’s character was a charismatic elf wizard that was lawfully evil. He felt like it was the closest thing he could get to himself. He sat at the table of the meeting room and listened as Duncan, the self proclaimed Dungeon Master explained the rules and laid out the details of the game board. He had to admit, there were a few times he got lost but Kurt prided himself on his ability to pick things up quickly. After a half hour, he had figured it out and was playing with stride. He took risks, he battled other mythical creatures he came in to contact with, but most of all, he enjoyed himself.
By the time the game was over, Kurt had a whole new respect for the people who played the game. There was a lot more to it than was let on and he quickly was engulfed by the story of it. He was sad when it ended because he knew he could go for another few hours but he needed to sleep at some point. He left the room content and with lunch plans with a few of the girls the following day for a “Galentine’s Day” just like in Park’s and Rec. Maybe this was the break he needed in his schedule because while in the midst of the game, his mind was not on class, homework, rehearsal, Hunter, Blaine’s distance or graduation. For those few hours he was able to escape and self regulate which was something he did not do often enough.
Next meeting they are playing Life, another game he had not played in years and he hoped it would turn out just as fun as this night had been. Until then, he was going to return to his life and look into pricing to buy his own game pieces.
I gave in and joined the Board Game club as I feel it would work best with my schedule. This morning was our first meeting and we played Risk. Not bad and it was surprisingly fun since I was able to live out what it was like to conquer countries. At the end of the meeting we voted on our next game and the majority picked Dungeons and Dragons. I however had voted for Cards Against Humanity because I thought it would be funny. What did I just get myself involved in?
Chekhov’s President and Board of Trustees are nervous about the merger with NYADA as they feel the students remain segregated. As a last ditch effort to unite the two schools, they have decided to enact the CLUB CLAUSE. As of now, every student whether you are from NYADA or CSD must join an extra curricular club. Joining a club is mandatory for all students. If you can last two weeks in your club, you will receive course credit for your time.
As we are in the second semester, most clubs are full and have their members accounted for. Following is a list of clubs with availability for one more member!
Interpretive Dance Club
Stage Animal Trainers Club
LARP Club
Board Game Club
Frisbee Golf Team
Anime Club
Chess Club
Knitting/Crocheting Club
Mime Club
Mock UN
Students of Service Club (Community Service)
You must reserve your club ASAP because it’s first come first serve! Once you have picked your club (and it is approved) write a self para about your experience in the club. You have two weeks to make your post. If you have any questions, please contact Admins Han and Cat.
DATE: November 22, 2015, Late Afternoon/Early Evening
EVENT: The Thankful Self Para Challenge
NOTES: Kurt has an off day and decides to reminisce on his past as a way to cope.
It had poured for most of the evening so Kurt had already resigned himself to an evening of trying to repair his boots because he had clearly not worn the right boots for this type of weather. He knew they would be two different colors if he didn’t work on them fast. After nearly getting doused by a wave of water after a car sped through a puddle, he decided that shoes aside, he hated the rain. While he chose a school in a location that rained often, he had always tolerated it until now. Today just seemed exceptionally awful.
Perhaps it had more to do with his mood than the actual weather. For some reason, many things triggered memories of his mother today. First a woman passed him on the street that wore her perfume, it was hauntingly strong. Then he heard a song by the band Heart that he would listen to his parents sing along to when it played on the radio. Then there was a notice about a community theater performing Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of her favorite Shakespeare plays. Lastly, there was a woman who he swore looked just like her, across the street from him on his walk home. Deep down he knew it wasn’t her and figured it was just his brain playing tricks on him.
Every encounter, had made him a little bit sadder and long for the mother he had lost many years before. There were days where he felt he was forgetting her face, her voice and even her favorite things. Then there were days like these when everything came rushing back to him and it hit him like a freight train. He threw open the door to his dorm and discarded his school bag right int the middle of his walkway, thankful to be rid of the extra weight it brought him. Next he pulled off the thigh length jacket like a snake would shed his skin, feeling renewed and limber without it. His poor shoes were toed off individually and then placed on his vanity in order to be meticulously cared for. At this point he should prepare himself for their loss but part of him remained hopeful that he could fix them. He opened his cabinets and looked around for his shoe care kit that his Dad had purchased him for his birthday some odd number of years ago. It wasn’t in the cabinets, it wasn’t in the desk so he decided to check the closet, noticing it was the last plausible option. It was then that he came across a photo album he had hid in the back to make sure it was out of view.
Reluctantly he pulled it out and ran his hand over the sticker placed on the front that had faded over time yet still read “Kurt and Mom”. Kurt carried the album over to his bed and opened the cover. After her death, he had found his Mother’s scrapbook collection. When the scrapbooking fad hit New Rochelle, she had thrown herself fully into it and had made an album for every topic. This was one of her incomplete ones and it was one that was filled with pictures of the two of them together. Being an only child had perks because your Mom liked to document your whole life. She had everything from first bath, to first tooth, to first day of school. Every little milestone was plastered on the pages of the album. He kept flipping until he reached the page that was a warm orange color with the word “Thanksgiving” printed across the top.
A picture from the Hummel family Thanksgiving took most of the space and showed many of his family members donning late nineties attires and smiling in the direction of the camera. It was easy to spot himself as he had the biggest smile as he sat upon her lap, wearing a button up and sweater even though he was barely old enough for preschool. Every Thanksgiving, his family would sit down at the table and go around the room saying one thing they were thankful for before they cut into the turkey. Some of the older cousins would roll their eyes because they hated the tradition but not Kurt, he loved talking about the things he was most thankful for. His Mom always told him to limit it to three things as he was never able to come up with just one. They did this every year, even the year she died.
Kurt ran a finger over her face. The first thanksgiving without her was so strange because it was so sudden. He remembered every detail so vividly. After September 11th, everything was a blur. At first they didn’t know if she was gone or not, then there was the grieving process and before he knew it, Halloween had flown by and it was Thanksgiving. People had given them food for weeks after she had died but Thanksgiving was the first time his Dad had promised to cook something as he felt it was important. To keep the memory alive or what have you. Kurt spent the morning watching the parade in silence, feeling as his home was void of all happiness even though he knew his Dad was only feet away and within the next few hours his home would be filled with various family members. He held his Woody doll close in his arms, a well worn toy of his that had been his sole companion since he had heard the devastating news about his Mom. Something about holding him tight had always brought him comfort.
This year when they had gone around the room, Kurt was unsure of his list and went over the options again and again in his head. He looked at his Dad who still looked so sad and tired and part of his young brain knew that he would look like that for a long time. Mostly because he knew he felt the same in his heart. His Aunt said her three things “Her Husband, her kids and God” just like every other year which indicated that it was Kurt’s turn. He looked down at his plate, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone as he felt that he could be motivated to cry and that was the last thing he wanted to do. “I’m thankful for my Dad, because he takes care of me. My Mom because even though she’s gone, she still loves me. And Woody, because he’s a good friend.” He held up the doll that had been hiding under the table across his lap until that moment, as proudly as Rafiki had to baby Simba. The whole table erupted into pleasant laughter except for his Dad who smiled at him knowingly.
He was never really sure why everyone thought it was funny but it was better than them all crying because he had dealt with enough of that by that point. From that year on, Kurt had kept his three things the same just because it had always received such a warm response. It had been years since he had celebrated Thanksgiving at home but he knew that if he did, he would continue the tradition.
Closing the book, Kurt no longer felt sad about missing his Mom just reminiscent. He had learned long ago that crying over her death wouldn’t bring her back and that by spending his time remembering their moments together, he felt his time was better spent. Kurt had taken over the duty of scrapbooking his own milestones from where she had left off, reaching his first production at CSD. Since then, the album was placed in the back of the closet to not only keep it out of sight but to keep it safe. He hadn’t needed to look in it because there had not been a milestone worthy of documenting since but he liked knowing it was there. After returning the album to the closet, Kurt found the shoe care kit on the top shelf. He walked back to the vanity to start the repair process but not before starting his Disney playlist on itunes with “You’ve Got A Friend In Me.” Just for old times sake.
Finally people who are way too adorable to make me want to be anything but happy around them. My playwright workshop is going excellently, might I add.
