Patricia Rakel

I'm currently 18 years old (I'll be 19 in a few months) and auditioning for my first college production. I'm filling out the auditioning sheet right now, and the only thing that I'm unsure of is my age range. I'm on the shorter side at only 5'2" (I was the shortest person in my high school's theatre program), so I can pass easily for a much younger person (about 12 or 13), but I also have curves that can be played up to make me appear older than I am. I also have a face that can lean either younger or older depending on how I do my makeup. What do you think would be a good age range for me to put down? I don't want my range to be too large and unrealistic, but I also don't want it to be too small and limiting. I need something that's just right.

My drama teacher decided to drop a bombshell on us yesterday. She told us that for our One-Act competition play this year, she's considering doing a play on the Holocaust, which would require the girls to shave their heads just a few months before prom and graduation. I've currently got waist length hair that I've been growing out since the eighth grade, and it's my senior year, so I'll be going off the college in less than a year. So, the question is, would you shave your head for a role in a high school play? And would your parents have let you do it?

I was trying to open another file, and I guess I accidentally clicked "close" instead of "open", and instead of prompting me to save, it just closed without saving anything! Is there any way I can access the autosave files (I know they must exist somewhere, since I can recover data after an error occurs)? It's really important that I get at least some part of this document back!

I downloaded savevid without really knowing what I was downloading, and it changed my homepage to Searchqu. I tried changing my homepage back, but it still didn't work, no matter how many times I changed it. So I searched how to get rid of it, and when I went to delete it from Program Files, it kept telling me that I needed permission to delete it... but I'm the admin of the computer. How can I get rid of this? It's really pissing me off.

In my theatre class, we're doing a showcase, and we have to either perform a long monologue, sing, or dance (or all three at the same time, my teacher's not really that picky). I have a monologue picked out just in case, but I would really like to sing a solo, since I'm also doing a duet with one of my good friends to Take Me or Leave Me from the musical RENT as Maureen (with some note adjustments to fit my range). I'm somewhere between an alto and a mezzo soprano. If I practice my high notes enough I can belt up to an E on the staff, and can go pretty high in my head voice, though my head voice isn't as good as my chest voice. The song has to be from a Broadway musical or at least in the style of Broadway. I like a lot of classic musicals as well as modern musicals, and I don't care if it's a character song, lead song, ballad or fast-paced. Does anyone have any songs they'd like to suggest? I'm really stuck on this one.

Okay, so I downloaded something for free on iTunes a while back, and it tried to give me two of the same thing. So I paused on of them and hit delete, thinking that that would be the end of that. Well, now every time they update their terms and conditions, it starts the downloading process all over again. It's very frustrating, because I really don't want it. Does anyone know how to et rid of it for good?

Please do not say "Lean on Me". I absolutely loathe that song.

Anyways, I'm looking for a song with a lyrical feel to it. I want to make a video to a song for my mother, who has helped me stay strong through a lot of things, including a very rare form of OCD, one that very few people have ever been able to completely overcome. I've been free of the symptoms for seven years now, when it's difficult more many to go a few weeks or months. I really want to show her how much I care. Does anyone have any ideas of songs?

I have to be in a school dance show in a week, and my teacher JUST told us on Friday what we needed. Where we live, there aren't really any dance stores that are convenient to get to. We're supposed to have them by this Friday for dress rehearsals. I already looked at Discount Dance Supply and Dancewear Solutions, and both of them wanted ten or more dollars for shipping that may or may not even get here on time for the performance. I've already spent a lot of money on stuff for the costume, and I really don't have the money to pay over twenty dollars on just tights. Does anyone know where I can get a pair of dance tights that will be delivered within the next five days, but not cost a small fortune to get?

I am extremely fair-skinned, and I love my pale skin. I don't want to change it. But I do want to know if there is a way to make your skin look tanned without actually tanning. (Like, makeup wise.) I'm playing the part of a really sporty, blond, tanned girl, and I want to keep me the same but play the part as convincingly as possible, which includes a tan. I don't want to spray tan or use those lotions that give you a "sun-kissed glow", since those seem demi-permanent. Does anyone have any ideas?

We're doing a crossword puzzle in my World History class, and the teacher is an evil sadist who likes to assign crosswords that have at least one answer that is not in our books or notes. Does anyone know what the reign of the Frankish rulers is? It is NOT Carolingians, because it doesn't fit. It has 11 letters. Thanks in advance!

I'm writing this story, and while naming one of the character, I couldn't find a good middle name for her. I looked through countless lists of names to find one that really popped, with absolutely no luck. Then I started looking into her physical features to see if I could find anything there. I write a lot with eyes (color, shape, depth, etc...), so I thought maybe something to do with her eye color, which is an ambery color. She's a really unique character with an interesting story behind her, so I want to give her a middle name that matches her well. I thought that perhaps her name could be that of a gemstone, but I'm no expert on gems or jewels. I know that amber and certain shades of topaz are similar in color for what I'm looking for, but I'd like to know if there are any other options before I put anything down for sure.

Oh, and just so you know, the character's first name is Saleah (pronounced Sah-lee-ah). She's called Leah at school, but Saleah by her friends (there is a reason for that, but I won't get into it, since it's a little confusing and requires a TON of back history). She's also a witch, but doesn't use her powers much. She is fifteen.

So, if you know any gemstones that are similar to amber, please let me know. She's the last character that doesn't have a middle name, and I'm just one of those people that likes to know everything about my characters, even if it doesn't come up in the story. I know, I'm strange. But if you could please help, I would be eternally greatful!

My cousin (now fourteen) got pregnant by a then fifteen-year-old boy. He is now sixteen (has been for a couple of months) and she just turned fourteen. Her father is furious and has been threatening to call the authorities. My mom keeps telling him that he needs to calm down and that a sixteen-year-old boy -- no matter what he's done -- doesn't deserve to have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. However, we're still not sure if he would actually do it. I was just wondering if it's really illegal for that fifteen-year-old boy to have had sex with a thirteen-year-old girl. I've read up on the Romeo and Juliet Laws, but they only seem to work if there's at least a three year difference between the ages of the two parties involved. I'm just trying to help without getting too involved. I just really don't want a kid my age going to jail and forced to register as a sex offender just because he made some bad choices.I really appreciate your help!

Alright, so I'm working on my book, and while I have a great sense of character development, I haven't found the right surname name for my vampire character. His name is Alexander (Alex for short) and he is (physically) sixteen. He's also a major smart ***. He loves to tease and taunt the other characters and he often does things for his own agenda. He attends a normal human high school and the only other people that know he's a vampire are the other magical beings living as humans and the main character (a human girl named Kaylee). I will tell you know that this is NOT a vampire/human romance. Actually, it kind of the opposite; the relationship with Alex and the rest of the characters is a little spotty. Sometimes they're best friends and sometimes they want to kill each other. I really want a name that will go well with his first name, seems kind of vampire without being too obvious, and matches up with his personality. I just really want my character's name to be everything that he is, because in a lot of ways, this is my baby. I've been working on this idea for a couple of years now and I'm really hoping to finnish soon and get it published.

I am fifteen years old and I suffer of extreme Trypanophobia (fear of medical procedures involving hypodermic needles and intravenous) and I have to get the flu shot soon. My mom said that this year (since I fall within all of the danger zones for people who get the flu) I WILL be getting the seasonal and swine flu shots. I know that shots aren't that painful and it's not that big of a deal, but I just can't do it without freaking out. I once had a major panic attack because I was getting shots. My mom told me that I couldn't do that this time because I'm not going to my pediatrician and they won't put up with me freaking out.

So, if there are any poeple out there that have or know how to get over Trypanophobia, please tell me!

I'm writing a book and I wrote a little note to myself to find a poem to go along with my main character, because it's something that she is thinking about in a very pivotal point in the story.

The main character is a girl named Kaylee Blake. She's just started her freshman year in highschool and is fourteen. She used to be a very sweet, social child, but she became very antisocial when she was around the age of six (a plot point that comes to play in a future book that I'm keeping tight under wraps). Anyways, now she's kind of alone and doesn't have any friends. In class, they read a poem that she really connects with, but the only promblem is that I didn't have a poem in mind when I wrote that into the scene, and I really think that if I found the right poem that it would pull this whole little section together, because it shows how Kaylee is really unhappy with being alone and her love of reading and literature (she's a total bookworm).

The book is a fantasy. There are actually six "main" characters, but the book is writen in the persepctive of Kaylee. The scene that I need the poem for is important because it is the scene that opens Kaylee's eyes to the fact that there is magic in the world. She meets her first friends in years because of this scene. Her friends are all different types of magical being (a witch, twin werewilves, a vampire, and a demon who uses spirit magic), so, if at all possible, I would like there to be some sort of magical element. I understand that might not be possible, but I really just want a poem that fits everything that my character is.

And I'm only fifteen and in high school, so I don't have a lot of time to write or look all over the internet or in books to find a poem, so if anyone knows of a poem that even remotely sounds like it could work, I'd love it if you would tell me.

Thanks in advance!

~Patricia Rakel